The cost of building the plastic track elements is estimated at just $4-$5 million, with a potential payback time of within 10 years if used for both winter and summer events. He pointed out the tracks hosts very few competitions each year and, in some cases, the track is not used at all. He said the bobsled track built for the 2006 Turin Olympics cost about $100 million to build and another $1 million annually just to maintain. Mansson’s research, conducted while at the University in Switzerland, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), went beyond the science of a plastic bobsled track to tap into the environmental, economic and popularity aspects of such a track. The bobsledding track makes sense to use the plastic, he said, as the sport requires a less direct feel for the surface compared to speed skating, ice hockey or curling. “We were so surprised that it worked so well like this in every category.” “When a sled passes, yes, it makes a microgroove, but then the polymer heals very quickly,” Mansson said. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene also didn’t deteriorate after 1,000 bobsled runs, sustaining minimal damage that would not affect competitions. It also is widely used as the bottom layer of racing skis. The low-friction, low-wear plastic is used in a variety of formats, ranging from allowing easier movement in artificial hip joints to coating the buckets in earth-moving equipment to allow sand and gravel to slide off easily. In addition, the plastic track followed almost the exact speed profile as an ice track, letting the sleds reach more than 62 mph (100 kilometers per hour) just three-tenths of a mile (600-meters) into the length of the track. The plastic, under a light mist of water, almost mimics the friction created by the stainless-steel runners on bobsleds, luge sleds and skeleton sleds on ice. Mansson said his three-year study looked at using ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene for the surface of the 1.2-mile (two-kilometer) tracks. “So, they’re built for the Olympics and then they stand rather unused.” “These are enormously costly facilities, and some of them don’t have many people using it,” said Mansson, who teaches a sports technology course at Purdue. Jan-Anders Mansson, director of the Composites Manufacturing and Simulation Center and a professor in materials engineering and in chemical engineering, has conducted research in recent years with the international bobsled and luge federations. A Purdue University professor’s research suggests the Winter Olympics’ icy bobsled tracks could be replaced with a lubricated plastic surface.

Bobsled vs skeleton speed