Sports Equipment

Structural reinforcement for sports equipment

Sports equipment designed to withstand intensive loads and last a long time needs structural reinforcement.

Bending and torsional strength

Thanks to their structure, BAFATEX diagonal laid scrims give products the properties customers expect from high-quality sports equipment:

Elasticity and resilience

A ski or a tennis racket, for example, needs a controlled degree of elasticity to absorb forces and spring back. At the same time, its bending and torsional strength must be high enough that it neither breaks nor tears.

Vibration damping

Vibration damping is another key factor for product quality, test results and sales success – and one of the most sought-after properties in rackets and bats.

Tear strength at minimal weight

For sailcloth, parachutes and paragliders, the combination of tensile loads and safety requirements calls above all for tear strength – at minimal weight.

Engineers looking for this kind of reinforcement should consider laid scrims.

Laid scrims are suitable for reinforcing:

• Skis and snowboards
• Tennis rackets
• Table tennis bats
• Badminton and squash rackets
• Sails for boats, windsurfers and kitesurfing
• Kiteboards
• Parachutes and paragliders
• Longbows and crossbows
• Hockey and ice hockey sticks

The solution: laid scrims

Laid scrims are lightweight yarn structures, a form of technical textile.
They combine exactly the properties good sports equipment needs:

• Ideal for bending and torsion
• Extremely light
• Extremely tear-resistant, depending on the material
• Vibration-damping
• Shape-stabilising
• Durable
• Cost-effective

Added value through design and function

Laid scrims are usually hidden as an intermediate layer in sandwich constructions – for example as carbon laid scrims in table tennis bats or skis.

That does not exploit their full potential.
Beyond their function, laid scrims offer another valuable option:
they can make the added value of high-tech products visible.

Bending and torsional strength

Thanks to their structure, BAFATEX diagonal laid scrims give products the properties customers expect from high-quality sports equipment:

Elasticity and resilience

A ski or a tennis racket, for example, needs a controlled degree of elasticity to absorb forces and spring back. At the same time, its bending and torsional strength must be high enough that it neither breaks nor tears.

Vibration damping

Vibration damping is another key factor for product quality, test results and sales success – and one of the most sought-after properties in rackets and bats.

Tear strength at minimal weight

For sailcloth, parachutes and paragliders, the combination of tensile loads and safety requirements calls above all for tear strength – at minimal weight.

Engineers looking for this kind of reinforcement should consider laid scrims.

Laid scrims are suitable for reinforcing:

• Skis and snowboards
• Tennis rackets
• Table tennis bats
• Badminton and squash rackets
• Sails for boats, windsurfers and kitesurfing
• Kiteboards
• Parachutes and paragliders
• Longbows and crossbows
• Hockey and ice hockey sticks

The solution: laid scrims

Laid scrims are lightweight yarn structures, a form of technical textile.
They combine exactly the properties good sports equipment needs:

• Ideal for bending and torsion
• Extremely light
• Extremely tear-resistant, depending on the material
• Vibration-damping
• Shape-stabilising
• Durable
• Cost-effective

Added value through design and function

Laid scrims are usually hidden as an intermediate layer in sandwich constructions – for example as carbon laid scrims in table tennis bats or skis.

That does not exploit their full potential.
Beyond their function, laid scrims offer another valuable option:
they can make the added value of high-tech products visible.

What are laid scrims?

Laid scrims differ significantly from conventional woven fabrics:

• The yarns are not interlaced over and under each other but firmly bonded at their contact points by a binder.
• The yarns run diagonally / multiaxially in 6 to 10 directions, so they absorb acting forces much more effectively.
• They are more stable and at the same time more flexible.
• Their higher structural tear strength allows wider meshes and a significantly lower weight per unit area.
• Different materials can be combined, each with its specific properties.
• The yarns can be treated with a wide range of impregnations for specific purposes.

Incidentally, our BAFA^® laid scrims are also used as a production aid, for example in kiteboards, where a lightweight, self-adhesive polyester laid scrim is used.

Processing in automated production

In sports equipment manufacturing, every second counts. BAFA^® laid scrims save manufacturers time in converting. They are usually processed as an intermediate layer in sandwich constructions, where they also prevent the layers from shifting.

BAFATEX supplies laid scrims wound on rolls, designed for automated production and high processing speeds. BAFA^® laid scrims are easy to cut and punch, making them suitable for both manual processing and die-cutting lines.

Material options

Depending on the properties required, the following materials are available:

• Natural fibres: jute, cotton and flax (more information)
• Man-made fibres (more information)
• Other materials on request

Glass fibre and carbon are the two most widely used materials for reinforcing rackets and bats, both offering a long service life under strongly fluctuating loads. Typical construction for a ski, for example: carbon weft yarns in BAFA® laid scrim 100/20 made from 1100 dtex black polyester combined with 1210 dtex Twaron®.

Individually configurable

Several variables can be adjusted to tailor the reinforcement to your requirements:

• Material, material combinations and their properties (e.g. soft, hard, heat-sealable, waterproof, flame-retardant)
• Impregnation / adhesive
• Yarn count and yarn spacing
• Elongation at break (1.7–23 %)
• Breaking force (2.2–448 N)
• Tenacity (13–355 cN/tex)
• Crossing angle of the yarns (and thus force transmission)