Should I ride this Roller Coaster?

Whiplash during ride on roller coaster?

• Since I was little, I have been going to Six Flags Great America just about every year. While most of the big roller coasters, such as the Viper, Superman, and Raging Bull, have a smooth ride, I have noticed lately that the Demon and Iron Wolf roller coasters have a rather bumpy and whiplash causing ride, and in fact yesterday when I was at Great America, I nearly got whiplashed pretty badly while riding the Iron Wolf roller coaster. The Demon, Iron Wolf, Raging Bull, and Superman are all the steel frame type coasters with the steel bar type tracks. Out of curiosity, what causes some of those roller coasters to have that whiplash type of bumping around during the ride?

• Answer:

  Wooden roller coaters tend to be much more bumpy, because of the inherent flexibility of wood, and the need to use jointed construction rather than continuous welded structure. Wood has far more elastic yield in response to pressure than steel does. The weight of the cars can cause the wood to flex by 1/2 inch or more. Bumps are any areas where the track deviates from the ideal, smooth planned trajectory of the ride. Those inconsistencies are felt as rapid jarring motions.. Apart from that, bumpiness on steel roller coasters depends on the precision and accuracy of the engineering and the construction of the ride. Also while steel is much more rigid than wood, it is not perfectly so and tight turns, areas with high G force-loadings may cause the track to flex enough to cause bumpiness. Also in the design of any structure there is always a trade off between strength/stiffness versus weight. Adding a thicker, larger steel structure to the ride may make it stiffer and smoother, but that also makes it cost more to build and more difficult to install on site. The ride would also need larger foundations adding to cost..So engineers try to balance ride quality with having a lightweight framework.