1. Application of Composites in Sporting Goods
Prepared by:
Dilpreet Bajwa
Chad Ulven
Chris Dahlen
James Helphrey

2. Stone Age -> Bronze Age -> Iron Age -> Composite Age
Composite Materials
They can be defined as a material with two (or more) distinct macroscopical phases. Fibers embedded in or bonded to a matrix with distinct interfaces between the two constituent phases
Eg. Concrete
Matrix
Silver – Copper Alloy reinforced with Carbon Fibers
Iron Bars in the Cement Matrix
Dispersed Phase
Stone Age -> Bronze Age -> Iron Age -> Composite Age

3. Reasons for Composite Tailored Properties Lightweight High Strength
Specific Strength
High Stiffness
High Strength
Design Flexibility
Vibration Damping

4. Laminated Fiberglass Bow
Uses of Composites
Composite Bicycle
Laminated Fiberglass Bow
Graphite Snowboard

5. Uses of Composites
Composite Baseball Bat from Miken Sports

6. Uses of Composites

7. Uses of Composites
Sports Skis Snowboards Snowboard Bindings Inline Skates Nordic Skis Nordic Ski Poles Nordic Ski Boots Snowshoes

8. Uses of Composites
Composite Fishing Rods

9. Uses of Composites Dodge Viper Front grill of an Automobile
Different part of an airplane

10. Composite Blade

11. Types of Fibers and Architecture
Fiber Glass
Graphite Fiber
Kevlar Fiber
Kevlar/Carbon Hybrid

12. Composite Materials
Polymer – Thermoset, Thermoplastic, Elastomer
Metallic – Al, Ti, Mg, and Cu Alloys
Ceramic – Si Alloys
Polymer (Thermoset) – Epoxy, Polyester, Vinyl Esters
Fibers – Glass, Carbon, Graphite, Natural fibers (flax, sisal, cotton, hemp etc)

13. Laminated Composites
Laminated composites can be thought of as sheets of continuous fiber composites laminated such that each layer has the fiber oriented in a given direction.

14. Basic Strength of Materials
Stress:
Stress is defined as the average force per unit area.
Strain:
A deformation produced by stress. It’s the ratio of difference in length to the actual length. Strain is always dimensionless.

15. Basic Mechanics
Mechanics: Branch of engineering that studies internal effects of stress and strain in a solid body subjected to external loading.
a) Statics - branch of mechanics which considers the action of forces in producing rest or equilibrium of a body.
b) Dynamics - branch of mechanics which treats of the motion of bodies (kinematics) and the action of forces in producing or changing their motion (kinetics).
Force: The capacity to do work or cause physical change.
Pressure: Force applied uniformly over a surface, measured as force per unit of area.

16. Rules Of Mixture

17. Composite Fabrication
Types of Composite fabrication:
Wet Lay-up/Hand Lay-up
Filament Winding
Pultrusion
Spray Lay-up
Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM)
Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding (VARTM)

18. Hand Lay-up
Resins are impregnated by hand into fibres which are in the form of woven, knitted, stitched or bonded fabrics. This is usually accomplished by rollers or brushes, with an increasing use of nip-roller type impregnators for forcing resin into the fabrics by means of rotating rollers and a bath of resin. Laminates are left to cure under standard atmospheric conditions.

19. Filament Winding
This process is primarily used for hollow, generally circular or oval sectioned components, such as pipes and tanks. Fibre tows are passed through a resin bath before being wound onto a mandrel in a variety of orientations, controlled by the fibre feeding mechanism, and rate of rotation of the mandrel.

20. Skis Layout Process

21. Glass Fiber Types

22. Layout of Glass Fiber Sheets

23. Activity 1. Preparation of Composite Hockey Stick
Material – Wooden hockey stick, Glass fiber sheets, Natural fiber mat, Adhesive, Gloves
Procedure:
Using the sand paper provided sand all sides of the hockey stick where fiber mats will be placed (marked section).
Tightly layout the glass fiber sheets on the marked section of hockey stick and apply the adhesive with the roller. Be sure to wear the gloves and goggles and apply adhesive in the marked section area.
Wait 1 hr for the adhesive to dry and cure. Do not move the samples once they are set aside for curing.
Remove the samples from plastic sheet for testing.

24. Activity 1a. Testing of Composite Hockey Stick
Material – Hockey Stick, Composite Blade, 2 Tables, Bucket with weight, Scale and Caliper
Procedure:
The hockey blade will be placed between two tables. A bucket with known weight will hang from the middle of the shaft of the hockey stick. Weights will be added to measure the deflection of composite versus regular wood hockey stick. The deflection and load values obtained will be used to measure the elastic properties of two different hockey sticks.

25. Activity 2. Design fiber reinforced composite plaques
Material – Glass fiber mats, thermoset resin weighing scale and Caliper
Procedure:
Select 4 sheets of unidirectional fiber mats and 4 sheets of bidirectional mats.
Lay 4 unidirectional glass fiber mats on polyethylene sheets.
Lay 4 bidirectional glass fiber mats on polyethylene sheet.
Impregnate them with thermoset resin using plastic bottle and roller.
Cure the samples for 1.5 hrs.
Conduct a drop ball impact test on the cured samples.

26. What did you learn? 1. What are composites and why use them?
2. How were the concepts of specific strength and specific stiffness used in today’s activity?
3. How does fiber reinforcement affect the properties?
4. What kind of fiber orientation did and didn’t work?
4. Why do think it did not work?
5. Describe the important strategies needed for designing a good composite good.

27. Future Directions The natural and eco element is gaining momentum.
Recycling
Natural Composites
Cost/ Processing issues may gain more importance
Composite Applications Video