UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS

MATERIALS SCIENCE
ECE 335 11:45-1:10 MWF S008

THE
GOLF
CLUB
FEBRUARY 14, 2011

Engr. Ferdinand Medina Gabriel

Reported by:
Lingbawan, Alijun
Magsino, Harmon
Mappang, Jordan
Wigan, Mikhail
THE GOLF CLUB

A golf club is used to strike the ball in the game of golf. It has a long shaft with a grip on
one end and a weighted head on the other end. The head is affixed sideways at a sharp
angle to the shaft, and the striking face of the head is inclined to give the ball a certain
amount of upward trajectory. The rules of golf allow a player to carry up to 14 different
clubs, and each one is designed for a specific situation during the game.

BRIEF HISTORY

Golf was first played by the Scots early 1296. They used wooden club to hit a ball made
out of stuffed leather. In 1603, Scottish club maker named William Mayne made the first
manufactured golf club to the court of King James. Wooden golf clubs and a stuffed
leather golf balls were used till mid 1800’s. With the introduction of hard rubber golf ball in
1848, golfers no longer had to worry about damaging the ball and began using clubs with
iron heads. Today, the design of golf clubs is both an art and a science. Some club
makers use the very latest computer aided design and automated manufacturing
techniques.

MATERIALS

The manufacturer of a golf club may choose from different materials such as: titanium,
steel, aluminum and wood to construct the golf club. The shafts of the Golf club woods
were made of different types of wood before taken over by persimmon wood. In the
middle of the 19th century the shafts were then being replaced by persimmon wood.
Despite this strong wood being the primary material, the long-nose club of the mid
nineteenth century was still prone to breaking at the top of the backswing. The club
heads were often made from thorn, apple, pear, dogwood, beech in the early times until
persimmon became the main material. Golf clubs have been developed and the shafts
are now made of steel, titanium, carbon fiber, or other types of metals. The shaft is a
tapered steel tube or a series of stepped steel tubes in telescopic fashion. This has
helped the accuracy of golfers. The grips of the clubs are made from leather or rubber.
PARTS OF A GOLF CLUB:

1. The grip - The grip of the golf club is important because it connects the club to the
golfer's hands. According to the rules of golf, recognized by both ruling bodies, the grip
has to be round, without obvious bumps, lumps or hollows. You'll see grips made of
rubber or leather with an assortment of small holes, grooves or ridges. All of these
qualities are designed to make it easier for the golfer to hold onto the club without making
the grip so large that it will run afoul of the rules.

2. The shaft - The shaft of the golf club connects the grip to the head and, like the grip,
must be basically round in cross section. Most modern golf club shafts are made of either
steel or titanium. Titanium has the advantage of being lighter than steel, but clubs with
titanium shafts also tend to be more expensive. In addition, some golfers say that hitting
a golf ball with a titanium club feels different than hitting the ball with a steel-shafted club.
This difference arises because steel and titanium transmit vibrations differently.

3. The head - Club heads for drivers and other woods may be made from stainless steel,
titanium, or aluminum. Traditionalists can even buy woods that are made of real wood.
Persimmon, laminated maple, and a host of exotic woods are used. Wood club heads are
usually soaked in preserving oil or coated with a synthetic finish like polyurethane to
protect them from moisture.

TYPES OF GOLF CLUBS:

1. DRIVERS - This are most often used at the first part of the competition. They “drive”
the ball to the hole.

2. WEDGES - Wedges are designed with modified soles designed to aid in shots through
the rough or sand. Wedges have the greatest loft of all of the golf clubs, enabling the
 ability to produce spin on the ball. Wedges are easier to control than the other clubs due
to the short shaft.

3. PUTTERS - As the name suggests, the 'putters' are used to 'putt' the ball over
relatively short distances. They often have clubfaces which lay perpendicular to the shaft.
You'll most often see them used when a golfer is making a shot close the hole.

MANUFACTURING

Every golf club maker uses a slightly different manufacturing process. The largest
companies use highly automated machinery, while the smallest companies use hand
tools. Some parts of the manufacturing process may be unique to one company and
regarded as trade secrets.

A. FORMING THE HEAD:

INVESTMENT CASTING
A wax pattern is
made that has the
shape of the golf
club’s head.
Several wax
patterns are
attached to a
central wax column,
called a sprue, to form a tree. The tree is dipped into a liquid mixture of powdered
ceramic material, various chemicals, and a gelling agent. It is set aside until the
coating dries. The tree is then placed in a container, and the container is filled
with liquid molding slurry, which is allowed to harden. The hardened mold is
heated to about 1,000-2,000° F (550-1,100° C) in an oven to melt the wax
patterns. The melted wax runs out the bottom and any wax residue is vaporized.
The mold is then inverted. Molten metals for the club head is poured into the hot
mold and allowed to harden. When the metal has cooled, the mold material is
 broken away from the tree, and the individual cast heads are cut off the sprue.
The investment casting process produces parts with an excellent surface finish
and no flash or parting lines to remove. The parts can be made from a wide
range of metals and their weight is uniform from one part to another. Most iron
heads are heated treated to harden the outer surface. The head is heated either
with a flame or an induction coil, and then quickly cooled. This causes the metal
near the surface to form a different grain structure that is much harder than the
rest of the head.

B. FORMING THE SHAFT:

This process of forming the club’s shaft is as similar as forming the club’s head.
The hardened mold is heated to about 1,000-2,000° F (550-1,100° C) in an oven
to melt the wax patterns. The melted wax runs out the bottom and any wax
residue is vaporized. Molten metal for the club head is poured into the hot mold
and allowed to harden. When the metal has cooled, the mold material is broken
away from the tree. The investment casting process produces parts with an
excellent surface finish and no flash or parting lines to remove. The parts can be
made from a wide range of metals and their weight is uniform from one part to
another. The head is heated either with a flame or an induction coil, and then
quickly cooled.

C. ASSEMBLING THE CLUB

The shaft is inserted into the

socket on the head and a small

hole is drill crossways through

both the socket and the shaft.

Heads and shafts are joined by

screw threads.
COMPARISON:

DENSITY MELTING POINT ELASTICITY TENSILE STRENGHT

(gm/cc) °F GPa Mpa

ALUMINUM 2.7 1218 70 90

TITANIUM 4.5 3031 110 860

STEEL 7.7 2450 200 500

PERSIMMON 0.776 NA 20 62

Aluminum Vs. Titanium Vs. Steel

Aluminum is a decorative and industrial metal, whereas titanium is known as

space age metal. Titanium is more expensive than, and twice as strong as aluminum,
and poor conductor, whereas aluminum is an excellent conductor. Titanium and
aluminum are both ductile, anti corrosive and non magnetic metals. The physical
properties of steel include high strength, low weight, durability, flexibility and corrosive
resistance. Steel, as we all know, offers great strength though it is light in weight. In fact,
the ratio of strength to weight for steel is the lowest than any other building material as of
now. By the term flexibility, it means steel can easily be molded to form any desired
shape.

SOURCES:

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5989481/description.html
http://www.smartcycles.com/frame_materials.htm
http://www.differencebetween.net/object/difference-between-aluminum-and-titanium/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_club_%28equipment%29
http://www.golf-club-revue.com/golf-club-design.html
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Golf-Club.html
http://hubpages.com/hub/Types-of-Golf-Clubs
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5774970.html
http://www.design-technology.org/CDT10woodsproperties.htm
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/physical-properties-of-steel.html