The Atlas BBCOR baseball bat from Louisville Slugger offers an expanded sweet spot and decreased vibration in a one-piece alloy bat. Louisville Slugger engineers developed an innovative bat design process —optimization through digital simulation to create the bat.
The barrel profile and wall thickness of the Atlas Evoke Alloy Barrel were driven by thousands of computer simulations modeled to mimic the BBCOR certification test. These simulations mirrored how different barrel profiles would perform in an actual baseball environment, allowing engineers to test thousands of designs in weeks instead of years.
“We literally did thousands and thousands of design iterations using the computer to come up with the optimum performance profile for each bat length,” said Louisville Slugger Director of Engineering James Earley. “What this computer simulation did for us is that it accurately mimics the BBCOR performance canon test. It takes a week or two to get new samples rather than a month or two. It’s like the design process on steroids.
“It’s an intersection of advanced computer modeling and traditional playtesting,” said Louisville Slugger Product Manager Joe Cmelik.
Through traditional play testing, the Louisville Slugger research and development team further refined the thousands of digital designs into the final Atlas barrel profile—the Evoke Alloy Barrel with a massive sweet spot and peak alloy performance.
“We were able to manipulate the wall profile so that every spot on the barrel has great performance,” Earley said.
Thousands of computer simulations identified the highest-performing wall thickness in each spot along the barrel. To create this optimal wall thickness and expand the barrel’s sweet spot, the production process used automated lathes programmed to machine the barrel from the inside for the ideal barrel profile. The final iteration of the barrel offers a balanced swing weight.
The bat includes technology to mitigate vibration and prevent players from getting rung up on a miss-hit. Located between the top of the handle and the base of the barrel, a honeycomb-shaped Tuned Mass Damper absorbs vibration on contact. As vibrations pass from the barrel to the handle, the Tuned Mass Damper prevents them from reaching a player’s hands.
A SPD-GEN2 End Cap complements the barrel for performance and feel. The LS PRO Comfort Grip offers tack and cushion so players can take advantage of the balanced swing weight.
Photo courtesy Louisville Slugger
