Rückfederungsgrad

Rückfederungsgrad refers to the ratio of the kinetic energy retained by a body after an impact to the kinetic energy it possessed just before the impact. It is a dimensionless quantity that quantifies the elasticity of a collision. A perfectly elastic collision has a Rückfederungsgrad of 1, meaning no kinetic energy is lost. In contrast, a perfectly inelastic collision has a Rückfederungsgrad of 0, where the colliding bodies stick together and all kinetic energy is dissipated as heat or deformation.

The Rückfederungsgrad is closely related to the coefficient of restitution, often denoted by 'e'. For a one-dimensional collision between two bodies, the coefficient of restitution is defined as the ratio of the relative speed of separation to the relative speed of approach. If the masses of the two bodies are m1 and m2, and their velocities before the collision are v1i and v2i, and after the collision are v1f and v2f, then e = |(v2f - v1f) / (v1i - v2i)|. The Rückfederungsgrad is then related to the coefficient of restitution by e^2.

In practical applications, the Rückfederungsgrad is important in fields such as sports equipment design (e.g., tennis rackets, golf clubs), material science (e.g., determining the impact resistance of materials), and automotive safety (e.g., crash simulations). It helps engineers understand how much energy is absorbed or returned during impacts, which is crucial for optimizing performance and ensuring safety. A higher Rückfederungsgrad generally indicates a more resilient or "bouncy" material or system.