The task was to design a skateboard deck and simulate the loads and forces it may undergo. The materials, dimensions, and loads of the deck were not specified but were kept to a reasonable metric. for example, the loads on top of the skateboard were 550 Newtons of force which is roughly the weight of a human. Our boards only needed to deform less than 3/8" and have a safety factor of 3 to be considered as valid.

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The design is of the Hoverboard from the iconic 1985 film Back to the Future. As such, the trucks were replaced by the circular bottom thrusters and one of the foot placements were replaced by the rotating strap on the top of the board.

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For the simulation, to hold a 550 Newton weight of a person, a 550 Newton force was applied to the thrusters to simulate a stable hover. Both ends of the board were restrained as to restrict any horizontal movements. Also, the material was set to titanium.

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As a result, three metrics were taken: the Von Mises Stresses. the vertical deformation (in mm), and the stress forces were taken with the deformation only being about 0.1mm meaning the design would pass. As of the safety factor, this can be calculated using the following equation:

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Yield Strength  =  Safety Factor

Von Mises Stress                           

           

After calculations, the resulting safety factor is 7.3 which exceeds the required safety factor of 3. Thus, the board is valid.