Top Sports Performance thanks to Composites
Aug 16, 2018
They are hidden in canoes, golf and hockey clubs, in racing bikes, yacht hulls and even swimsuits: fibre composites made inroads into the sports industry a long time ago and have virtually revolutionised it in some areas. From 6 to 8 November 2018 COMPOSITES EUROPE in Stuttgart will demonstrate why summer and winter sportspeople can firmly rely on composites, also when it comes to delivering top sports performances in future.
The benefits that composites bring for the sports and leisure sector are wide and varied. These materials score points with low weight, high resilience, bending stiffness, elasticity, almost free formability, resistance to corrosion and other weather conditions as well as the ability to absorb and pass on high amounts of energy.
At COMPOSITES EUROPE various exhibitors will be showcasing applications for composites as well as all the associated technologies and applications in the sports and leisure industries. Represented on site will be Tissa Glasweberei, which specialises in industrial textiles for winter sports, to name but one product, KARL MAYER with high-tech solutions for sports textiles, swimwear or shoes as well as Chem-Trend, a company that supports the production of clubs, golf balls, cycles and training equipment with its products. Furthermore, CMS Deutschland, HP Tec, HUFSCHMIED Zerspanungssysteme, INEOS Styrolution Group GmbH, Innotect GmbH, MAKA Systems GmbH, Oxford Advanced Surfaces LTD and others will provide advice about their products and innovations in this area.
12% of FRP end up in the Sports and Leisure Segment
Sports and leisure are a stable market for fibre composites. According to the ‘Composites Market Report 2017’ some 15% or 167,700 tons of the annual GRP production of 1.118 m tons in Europe were consumed by this application industry last year. This percentage has remained at this same stable level for years now – an indication that the growth of this area corresponds to that of the market as a whole. Due to its strong user focus, however, it holds very great growth potential, say experts, provided producers succeed in creating innovations.
For CFP the Report for 2017 sees a global demand of just under 15,000 tons in the sports and leisure area – corresponding to some 12 percent of the total volume. By 2022 this value is expected by experts to rise to 21,000 tons. So only moderate but stable growth can be expected here. In terms of turnover the industry accounts for “only” 7 percent or US$ 1.36 billion while total sales generated with carbon composites amounted to US $ 19.31 billion.
Competition Sports as a Driver for Development
CFP, in particular, has been used in sports for decades now. Most of the time competition and/or professional sports have driven developments because these are all about getting those key milliseconds or millimetres for a head start. With the help of better materials the envelope is pushed further and further. And the necessary funds are also available thanks to powerful sponsors. At ever shorter intervals the initially unique ‘working tools’ of professionals are now also available to leisure athletes for mass sports in larger numbers.
The most important method for processing composites in the sports and leisure field is Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) – especially when large quantities are involved. Automation capacity, the use of various fibre and matrix materials as well as the adjustment of cycle times are just some of the benefits of RTM. Compared to other processes, however, the cycle times can only be minimised to a limited extent.
From Water to Cycling Sports: Success thanks to CFP
Yachting is among the pioneers in CFP use. Hulls made of carbon-fibre reinforced composites have been used for both canoes and kayaks but also rowing boats and sailing yachts for many years now. This makes them lighter, more agile and easier to manoeuvre. Furthermore, rudders and paddles are made of fibre composites as well as surf and kite boards. And composites have even made inroads into swimming: the latest generations of swimsuits for top athletes – so-called Powerskins or Powersuits – contain a CFP admixture that flexibly and elastically stabilises the swimmer’s posture in the water while offering full freedom of movement nonetheless.
Successes are also celebrated thanks to CFP in professional golf or track and field athletics. At golf tour level or in the low Handicap spheres nearly all the clubs from drivers to the smallest of fairway woods now consist of composites. Like high jump rods, javelin throw spears and discus disks but also prosthetic limbs for sprinters and long jump athletes score points with low weight, high stiffness and, hence, outstanding competition properties. The same applies to ball sports such as table tennis, hockey, cricket or lacrosse, where clubs without a composite admixture would be inconceivable today. For winter sports helmets, ice hockey sticks, skis complete with shoes and sticks, snowboards, ice skates, luges and bob sleds are made of high-tech, fibre-reinforced materials. The market is “ginormous” and nearly all renowned sports equipment manufacturers depend on composite materials.
Cycling shows the enormous impact that CFP can have on the development of a whole sports discipline. Lighter and stiffer frames are used for both mountain bikes, road and in-door racing bikes but also for e-bikes and trekking bikes in mass sports. Now even more components are made of CFP such as handlebars, seat stays, forks, rims, cranks and pedals bringing down the weight of competition cycles to a mere 7kg. Pierre Bischoff, the Lightweight Technologies Forum Ambassador, will demonstrate how to score successes with such “lightweights”. He has won the Race Across America, the hardest bicycle race in the world, with a CFP bike of this kind.
COMPOSITES EUROPE 2018 in Stuttgart
Technological advances in the process chain are among the current drivers pushing the development of efficient lightweight construction solutions and their implementation in high-volume production. From 6 to 8 November, COMPOSITES EUROPE will show all the manufacturing processes used to make fibre-reinforced plastics, from raw materials to processing methods to lightweight construction innovations in automotive engineering, aerospace, boatbuilding, wind energy and construction.
Visitors will meet more than 400 exhibitors from 30 countries in Stuttgart, the leading technology region of the industry in Germany, the leading research and development country worldwide, who’ll put on display state-of-the-art technology and the potential of composites –and not just in the exhibition space but also in the numerous event areas, lecture forums, themed guided tours and workshops.
COMPOSITES EUROPE is organised by trade fair organiser Reed Exhibitions in cooperation with the European industry association EuCIA and the trade association Composites Germany, a coalition whose members include the industry associations and clusters AVK, CCeV, CFK-Valley and the VDMA Working Group Hybrid Lightweight Technologies.