Polymers in Sport and Leisure

References and Abstracts
prohibitive for all but the most critical strength/weight
applications. Costs have since decreased and carbon
fibre applications have expanded into other industries
such as sporting goods and motor racing where the
strength/weight properties provide significant
competitive advantage. New methods for producing
economical, large carbon fibre tows, accompanied by
the development of improved fabrication techniques will
continue to drive costs lower, further expanding the
markets for CFRCs. The automotive industry, challenged
to produce the ‘supercar’ with 40% lower weight and
capable of 80 mpg, is evaluating CFRC applications
throughout the vehicle, including bodies, powerplants,
chassis, flywheels and pressurised fuel cylinders. Carbon
fibre composite confined concrete columns improve
compression strength and shear resistance, making
bridges and overpasses inherently earthquake-resistant.
Improved cost efficient carbon fibre production methods
coupled with low-cost composite fabrication technology
will continue to reduce the costs of CFRCs and usher in
the new era. Carbon fibre-reinforced composites will
no longer be viewed as cost-prohibitive but costeffective,
resulting in explosive growth in new
applications as well as deeper penetration of existing
markets. 4 refs.
USA
Accession no.698008
Item 184
Tyretech ’98. Conference proceedings.
London, 15th-16th June 1998, paper 11. 6T1
BRIDGESTONE AS A SUPPLIER OF FORMULA
ONE TYRES
Carruthers D
Bridgestone/Firestone Europe SA
(Rapra Technology Ltd.; European Rubber Journal)
A major milestone in the development of Bridgestone was
in 1986, when Porsche adopted Bridgestone RE 71 ultrahigh
performance tyres as original equipment for its
limited edition 959 sports car, which at that time was the
world’s fastest production car. Then in 1988, Bridgestone
acquired the Firestone group, the second largest US tyre
manufacturer, for 2.6 billion US dollars. More recently,
in 1990, the European headquarters were established in
Brussels in order to manage and develop markets in both
Western and Eastern Europe. In 1997 Bridgestone first
entered Formula One racing. Some company information
is presented, with emphasis on the company’s
development of Formula One tyres.
BELGIUM; EUROPEAN COMMUNITY; EUROPEAN UNION;
WESTERN EUROPE
Accession no.697372
Item 185
Composites-French/English
No.28, 15th Aug-30th Sept.1998, p.14-6
CARBON REVOLUTION FOR TIME’S FORKS
The French company, Time Sport International,
specialises in the design and manufacture of highperformance
cycling equipment. The company is to launch
a new line of comfortable and extremely stiff carbonbased
forks that weigh under 400 grams. The article
supplies comprehensive details of the manufacture,
properties and benefits of the new forks, which are made
from Vectran, a synthetic material developed by Hoechst,
combined with carbon fibres. This lightweight composite
material exhibits high flexibility and performance levels
as well as outstanding impact and vibration absorbing
capabilities.
TIME SPORT INTERNATIONAL
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY; EUROPEAN UNION; FRANCE;
WESTERN EUROPE
Accession no.696218
Item 186
High Performance Plastics
Sept.1998, p.8-9
MICROSPHERE-FILLED PU SKIN FOR WORLD
CUP FOOTBALLS
This article highlights a new development by sports
company Adidas AG, and Bayer AG of Germany. They
have developed a new skin for footballs, encorporating a
syntactic foam produced by mixing a polyurethane
compound with millions of tin gas-filled microspheres,
which produce high elastic recovery when the footballs
are kicked. Full details are given.
BAYER AG; ADIDAS AG
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY; EUROPEAN UNION; GERMANY;
SWITZERLAND; WESTERN EUROPE
Accession no.696091
Item 187
Kunststoffe Plast Europe
88, No.8, 1998, p.30-1
HARD BUT TOUGH
The application of a range of materials from Theodor
Bergmann Kunststoffwerk in sports equipment
applications is described with brief product details relating
to their suitability for the application. Bergamid A 70 TMyF,
a high impact nylon 66 is used for snow shoes, with
Bergaflex SEBS on the sole; Bergamid B 70 TM-Z, nylon
6 with a modifier for cold impact resistance, is used for
ice skate blades, and the eyelet of a lightweight tennis
racquet uses a special impact-modified nylon 66,
Bergamid A 70 TM-yF.
BERGMANN T.,KUNSTSTOFFWERK
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY; EUROPEAN UNION; GERMANY;
WESTERN EUROPE
Accession no.695880
Item 188
SAMPE Journal
34, No.4, July/Aug. 1998, p.46-50
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