Modeling, Analysis and 3D Printing of a Slalom Water Ski

Ski is one of the essential components in water skiing sport. Water skiing involves pulling of a skier by a boat or a cable ski installation such that two skis or one ski skims the surface of the water. Conventionally, a ski is made of carbon fiber material using compression molding process. Increased cost of water skis due to the use of expensive material and high skilled labor has led researchers to take it as research. In this work, a feasibility study for manufacturing water skis using additive manufacturing process has been carried out. The water ski is modelled in CREO Parametric software and static structural, modal and fluid flow analyses are performed on CFRP, ABS and PLA materials in ANSYS software for determining co-efficient of lift and drag. Scaled models of water ski have been 3D printed with ABS and PLA materials. It has been realized that if CFRP can be used to 3D print the skis, then there would be significant reduction o f 5 0 % in the manufacturing costs of the water skis.