Composites in sports and leisure

Composites have made their mark in sports and leisure, mainly replacing wood (particularly in boating and board sports) and sometimes metal (especially in cycling). Several criteria have favored their use:

• light weight (easy to carry and handle);

• dimensional stability (no bulging or warping);

• good resistance to humidity and corrosion (products can remain outdoors, even in water or snow);

• their ability to withstand repeated fatigue;

• their high rigidity (or flexibility, which can be modulated according to the type of reinforcement), resulting in improved performance compared with plastics;

• flexible implementation (around ten manufacturing processes can be used, depending on specifications and production runs);

• a wide range of possible shapes.

This is practically the only field in which high-performance composites (HP) are used for consumer goods (fishing rods, snowshoes, skis, etc.), accounting for around 20% of their applications.

The breakdown of HP composites by field of use is as follows:

• aeronautics $\approx$ 50% ;

• sports and leisure $\approx$ 20% ;

• miscellaneous $\approx$ 30%.

• (unit products)

However, many sports articles use mass-produced composites (GP) or simply plastics: sailboards (PP), ski boots (PUR), golf balls (IO), footballs (PP + PUR)... and, even more so, for leisure: compact discs (PC), magnetic or video tapes (PET), photographic magazines and films (PET), hunting cartridges (PE), most toys, DIY articles and suitcases (ABS, PP). If we include television, microcomputers and electronic games in the leisure sector, then all casings for these devices (ABS) should also be considered.

This article looks at composite products from both a technological standpoint (by manufacturing process) and a functional standpoint (terrain, gliding, rolling stock, marine, aerial and leisure equipment). The "documentation" section will outline the main characteristics of the market and the main players involved.