Mechanical analysis of historical crossbows

Wang, Zhe-Ran; Zhang, Yang; Lin, Chieh-Ya; Hsiao, Kuo-Hung

doi:10.5194/ms-17-359-2026

Articles | Volume 17, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/ms-17-359-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/ms-17-359-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 17, issue 1

Research article

|

26 Mar 2026

Research article |

| 26 Mar 2026

Mechanical analysis of historical crossbows

Zhe-Ran Wang, Yang Zhang, Chieh-Ya Lin, and Kuo-Hung Hsiao

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Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 26 Mar 2026)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Apr 2026	114	47	9	170
May 2026	198	34	10	242
Jun 2026	37	16	0	53
Jul 2026	242	60	6	308
Aug 2026	175	96	8	279
Sep 2026	125	162	8	295

Latest update: 18 Sep 2026

Short summary

This study examines how ancient crossbows from China and Europe worked and how their designs changed during shooting. By studying historical examples and building visual models, we explored how the parts of the crossbow moved and interacted. The results show that although Eastern and Western crossbows used different ways to draw the string, both improved power and accuracy effectively. This research reveals how different cultures developed similar technological solutions.