HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 02-20 3M Co. customizes abrasive polishers for three Olympic bobsled teams STAR TRIBUNE %-StarTribune
3M Co. customizes abrasive
polishers for three Olympic
bobsled teams
Article by: Dee DePass
Star Tribune .1\,
February 20,2014-9:21 PM '
From its innovation labs around the world,3M Co.
has emerged as an unsung hero behind the
Olympic athletes who barrel down ice chutes at
Noelle Pikus-Pace of the United States starts
90 miles per hour with the hope of winning gold. her final run during the women's skeleton
competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics,
The Maplewood-based con conglomerate,known best
Friday,Feb.14,2014,in Krasnaya Polyana,
9 Russia.Pikus-Pace won the silver medal.(AP
for its Post-it notes,sandpaper and adhesives, Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)ORG XMIT:
MIN2014022011521263
has created specialty abrasives that polish the
blades for the Olympic bobsled and skeleton Feed Loader,
teams from Great Britain,Canada and the United
States.Discrete groups of 3M scientists from their
respective countries have worked separately with
each Olympic team,creating custom polishing I ; '
tools—which work like sandpaper—to give the •-
bobsled and skeleton blades maximum speed. '•
To be involved in the Olympics creates"a 1„,„
tremendous amount of satisfaction and reward,"
said Rich Crowley,a 3M engineer who works with ...∎
the U.S.bobsledders."The team really -.--
appreciates it.That is visible when we make a
donation to the bobsled team and the skeleton
team." 3M engineer Rich Crowley works with the U.S.
bobsled team.
The 3M scientists root for their respective teams Photo provided by 3M Co.,
and do not share approaches,company officials
said.3M joins BAE Systems,BMW, PodiumWear U ' •
and a long line of global companies that quietly
donate resources to help athletes during the
Olympics.
Some of 3M's partnerships,such as the one with
the British bobsled team,date back two decades.
A British 3M technical specialist, Nigel Willcock,
has been helping the bobsled team maximize USA-i piloted by Steven Holcomb,sped
s
blade speed with specialty abrasives.Meanwhile, down the track during a training run.
3M Canada has donated industrial abrasives for Natacha Pisarenko•Associated Press,
that nation's team.
And in the past few years,3M's Maplewood
headquarters has been giving the U.S.bobsled
team an assist,even helping the bobsledders
overcome a recent problem.The governing body
of the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation
mandated that all U.S.competitors use blades all
made out of the same type of steel alloy.The
teams had to machine the blades and then find a
way to grind and polish away all the tiny burrs,
swirls and marks that can slow a bobsled's speed.
The smoother the blade,the faster the sled.The
athletes polish each blade by hand.
"This was a new stainless steel alloy and different
from what the team}was using in the past.So
they were concerned,"Crowley said."'How do we , '
finish this?How do we polish it[for speed]?'They x ' �_
had no familiarity or history with it."
Mike Dion,head coach for the U.S.Olympic
bobsled team,turned to 3M for help.If anyone
knew polishing,it was 3M.The company began
making industrial abrasives in St. Paul more than <, ti
100 years ago and now has plants around the t "' � ��. r `
world.
� h
Dion flew to Maplewood several times and visited 4
Crowley's team in their abrasives lab.
They ordered and tested different sizes and types ._ ' '
of abrasives from 3M factories around the globe.
The engineers then crafted a specific type of
abrasive"sequence,"ranging from coarse to
micro,until they had the exact formula that
responded perfectly to the new metal alloy.
0 The USA-2 team from the United States,
It took"days to identify the sequence that was piloted by Jamie Greubel with brakeman Aja
Evans won the bronze medal in the women's
going to work.And then there was testing," bobsled competition this week.
Crowley said."We leveraged a lot of know-how MICHAEL SOHN•Associated Press,
from 3M people who came before me.So a
tremendous asset went into helping the bobsled
team solve the problem."
3M's new high-tech sandpaper had to have the ✓ �
right grit and the right backing to work at the
Olympics. It had to fit in an athlete's hand and be
sturdy enough to grind steel to a pearl finish
without falling apart.And it had to pass the strict
inspection of the governing body for the U.S.
Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.
See photos of Richard Crowley and abrasives
products.-used on olympic bobsled and
In the end,a durable microfinishing film was skeleton runners
selected that came from 3M's plant in
Cumberland,Wis. Feed t_oader,
As the Olympics draw to a close,what are the results?
This week,the two-woman Canadian bobsled team won gold.On Wednesday,two of the U.S.
two-women bobsled teams finished with silver and bronze medals and made history as the
first-time women bobsledders who claimed two medals at the Olympics.
On Monday,the two-man U.S.bobsled team won bronze,becoming the first U.S.medalists in
that category since 1952.Canada's team placed fourth and sixth,and Britain finished 23rd.
In the skeleton competitions,Britain's Lizzie Yarnold won gold for the women.Meanwhile,
Kristan Bromley placed eighth and Dom Parson placed 10th for the men.For the U.S.
skeleton competition,Noelle Pikus-Pace won silver for the women and Matt Antoine of Prairie
du Chien,Wis.won bronze for the men.
Dee DePass•612-673-7725