Comparison of design formulas for torsion based catapults

• Abstract:

  This paper analyzes the design of ancient catapults and compares the two known design formulas for Greek catapults, based on a standardized design for Hellenistic torsion-based catapults. It is hypothesized that, as both formulas, one for an arrow shooting catapult and one for a stone thrower, were considered to give the optimum design regarding performance, that both express the same optimal design. This could be used to determine the length/width of catapult arrows for optimally designed catapults, where no catapult arrow parts so far are known to have been discovered. In order to investigate this, a set of catapult point data, known from literature, were analyzed and a mathematical model developed.
• Download:

  IMEKO-MetroArchaeo-2023-039.pdf
• DOI:

  tc4-ARC-2023.039

Event details:

• IMEKO TC:

  TC4
• Event name:

  TC4 MetroArchaeo 2023
• Title:

  IMEKO TC4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

• Place:

  Rome, ITALY
• Time:

  19 October 2023 - 21 October 2023