Avalanche shovels build together with an avalanche transceiver and a collapsible probe the standard safety equipment for backcountry skiers and skimountaineers. In case of an emergency they are used to dig down fast to any buried victims. Because avalanches can be very dense and hard like concrete, these shovels need to withstand high forces and still need to be light and compact enough to be transportable without being to much of a burden. Plastic shovel are cheeper but tend to brake easily, thats why good one are made out of a special aluminum alloy that keeps its durable properties even in very cold conditions. I focused on the blade of the shovel since thats what breaks most often.
Influenced by results of the SKO-computation I made this 3D-Model, which I 3D-printed and then used as a form to create beadings in a deep-drawn small scale model of the blade.
