Polymers in Sport and Leisure

References and Abstracts
Item 250
Plastics News(USA)
9, No.31, 29th Sept.1997, p.24
COMPOSITES GIVE SNOW BOARD RIDERS
EDGE
Renstrom R
Rusty Snowboards is adding CFRP strips to allow team
riders and advanced boarders to hold high-speed turns.
Several dozen attendees at the Action Sports Retailer
exhibition spent hours after the exhibition at Rusty’s
San Diego factory, and 40 constructed their own
‘snowslider’ with the graphite strips and a choice of
board size and graphic colour. Each fibre strip is laid
alternately between three pieces of wood core. The
company has noted that a competitor has been
experimenting with CFRP placement, but have found
that it is unsatisfactory to put it along the rails as it is
difficult to bond the materials. Rusty Snowboards
employs 12, occupies 5,000 sq.ft. and can produce 60
boards daily. The shop produced 3,500 units in 1996,
its first season, and is now producing 5,000-6,000
boards/yr. Details are given.
RUSTY SNOWBOARDS; HOBIE SNOWBOARDS;
HOBIE DESIGNS INC.
USA
Accession no.657853
Item 251
Rubber Technology International
1997, p.210-2
TENSION AND LENGTH CONTROL FOR
YARNS AND TOWS IN FIBRE-REINFORCED
STRUCTURES
Nick A
Holtex Textilmaschinen GmbH
In a number of manufacturing processes (e.g. filament
winding, pultrusion, tape laying, laminating, tyre cord
weaving, sectional warping), direct beaming, warp
knitting and multi-axial weft insertion tows and fibres
are used that are made from glass, carbon, aramid,
polyamide, polyester, PP or PE. Both the processes and
the individual fibres are very different, but for all a
constant thread tension during manufacturing is
fundamental for high-quality products to be produced.
Such products include fibre-reinforced plastics for
aircraft, cars, sports equipment, protective clothing,
machine components and prepregs. Poor quality often
occurs as a result of delamination that leads to early
product failure. Causes of delamination can be detected
through investigation of the fibre, the fibre-matrix system
or the process technology that is applied. Emphasis is
placed on the behaviour of fibres and tows as they are
tangentially wound. 2 refs.
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY; EUROPEAN UNION; GERMANY;
WESTERN EUROPE
Accession no.657676
Item 252
Rubber Technology International
1997, p.19-24
DEVELOPING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE
SNOWMOBILE VARIABLE SPEED BELT
Shepher J; Westhoff W; Breed J
Gates Rubber Co.
Producing an effective design for a high-performance
variable speed belt by Gates Rubber for snowmobile
applications requires the careful balancing of a number
of conflicting properties related to functionality and
durability. A detailed test and evaluation programme was
essential in order to achieve an optimised design. Design
aspects covered include the Snow-V variable speed
transmission; transmission functions and their
interactions; belt structure, component design and
geometric design; and development validation and testing.
USA
Accession no.657634
Item 253
Advanced Materials Newsletter
19, No.17, 8th Sept.1997, p.2-3
INTEK INTRODUCES EXTRUDED FIBRE
COMPOSITES SYSTEM
Intek Plastics has introduced VHME (Very High Modulus
Extrusion) Long Fiber Extrusions based on a new
proprietary thermoplastic material system and process that
is claimed to be a replacement for wood, pultrusions and
metals. This patent-pending process extrudes
thermoplastic composite based on Celstran long glass
fiber-reinforced moulding compound materials. The
company claims that the material system is stiffer than
most woods, more weatherable than pultrusions, and will
not corrode like metals (mainly steel and aluminium).
Reinforced VHME is initially available in square tubular
shapes only. The market potential for VHME is said to
be comparable to the estimated 60-70 million US dollars
market for injection moulding of long fiber compounds,
with annual growth of about 20%. A market study has
determined that VHME has potential use in more than
130 applications including office furniture, appliances,
sporting goods, transportation, windows, doors,
wastewater and sewage treatment, corrosive environments
and commercial refrigeration. Details are given.
INTEK PLASTICS INC.
USA
Accession no.656958
Item 254
Designed for life:Composites ’94. Publication number
293/7. Conference proceedings.
London, BPF, 1994, p.27-35. 627
RESIN TRANSFER MOULDING OF MARINE
PRODUCTS
Searle T; Short D; Chudley J; Tate A; Bucknell S
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