Golf Club Head Striking Face Variable Young's Modulus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing golf club head striking face technologies fail to adjust performance without varying material or thickness, leading to potential cracking and increased mass, and do not effectively alter the Young's modulus of the striking face to improve performance.
Innovation Solution
A golf club head with a striking face made from β rich, near beta α+β titanium alloy, where the Young's modulus is altered through a quenching process involving heating and rapid cooling with a die to create a body-centered cubic β structure, reducing the Young's modulus to less than 90 GPa, allowing for improved performance without material or thickness changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the material of the striking face is varied to improve performance, then the coefficient of restitution is improved, but the bonding process may cause cracking under high impact forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the material composition of the striking face, specifically using a titanium alloy with 6.0-10.0 wt% aluminum and 3.0-7.0 wt% vanadium. This compositional parameter change enables the material to achieve both high coefficient of restitution and crack resistance through its unique microstructure, eliminating the need for bonding different materials together.
2Strength
If the thickness of the striking face is increased to eliminate cracking, then the strength is improved, but the mass of the club head increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses parameter changes in material composition (titanium alloy with specific aluminum and vanadium content) to achieve high strength-to-weight ratio. The optimized alloy composition provides superior cracking resistance at the same thickness compared to conventional materials, thereby maintaining low club head mass while improving strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite microstructure within the titanium alloy, creating a multi-phase material system that combines the benefits of different phases to achieve both high strength and low weight. This internal composite structure provides cracking resistance without requiring increased thickness.
3Strength
If the striking face is thickened to improve strength, then the cracking resistance is improved, but the flexural stiffness ratio decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the material composition parameters (aluminum and vanadium content ranges) to achieve a balance between strength and flexural stiffness. The specific alloy composition creates a microstructure that simultaneously provides cracking resistance and maintains appropriate flexural stiffness ratio, eliminating the trade-off present in conventional designs.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method enhances the golf club head's performance by creating a variable Young's modulus across the striking face, increasing the coefficient of restitution and flexural stiffness ratio, thereby improving ball speed and consistency across a larger area without the drawbacks of material or thickness variation.
Implementation Method 1
heating a striking face portion that is made of an α−β titanium alloy to a temperature that is 25-100° C. below a beta-transus temperature of a material used to make the striking face portion
Implementation Method 2
subsequently quenching the striking face portion using a die via conduction by maintaining the die in direct contact with the striking face portion for greater than about 15 seconds
Implementation Method 3
The resulting face insert portion will comprise of at least one phase that is a body centered cubic beta structure
Data Source
AI summary
A golf club head with an improved striking face is disclosed herein. More specifically, the present invention utilizes an innovative die quenching method that can alter the Young's modulus of the material of the striking face. The striking face portion of the present invention generally created from an α+β titanium alloy such as SP 700 that contains a β rich alloy composition to create more phase change in the alloying elements. In a preferred embodiment, the die quenching process could create a localized change in the material's Young's modulus throughout different regions of the striking face, resulting in a change in the Young's modulus of the material within the same striking face.