Sports and Recreation Textiles

Classification

High performance textile fibres and fabrics are used for

– Sportswear– Sports equipment– Sports facilities

Sportswear

• Swimming suit• Fitness wear• Skiwear• Gymnastic uniforms• Football gear• Cricket wear• Horse riding suit• Rugby gear

• Water sportswear• Winter active wear• Climbing and hiking• Cycling• Motor racing• Tennis• etc

Swimming Suit• Requirements

– low friction– low weight– low moisture absorption– comfort– Style

• Fibre types used– Cotton and wool for comfort– Synthetic fibres for strength– Elastic fibre for conformability

Low FrictionHIGH NECK BODYSKIN

Speedo® Fastskin(TM) fabric mimics a sharkskin with dermaldenticles-tiny hydrofoils with V-shaped ridges that decrease drag and turbulence around the body. Muscle compression components reduce muscle vibration. Seaming improves muscle coordination.

Fabric: 74% polyester/26% Lycra® spandex.

Low WeightA few grams of sheer performance. This revolutionary fabric is ultra-thin (0.29mm) and light (146gr/m2) with a sleek finish on both sides for enhanced aquatic performance. Thanks to its 28% Lycra content and its exclusive composition, this fabric technology hugs the skin from the inside for a secure fit, while the extra smooth outside provides an extreme slipperiness through the water. In fact, Arena X-Flat creates 4.8% less friction through the water than your own skin and 50% less drag than normal swimwear fabric. When wet Arena X-Flat absorbs only 40% of its weight and it dries in a very short time. Designed for speed and a competitive performance edge, X-Flat is available in a select line of women's and men's high-performance suits.

Styles

Fitness Wear• Comfortable to wear• Moisture absorbent• Breathable • Warm & cool• Made from cotton and Lycra• Knitted and woven

Football JerseyMaterial Descriptions -

Manchester Utd (Home) 00 / 02

Knitted base fabric with tonal knitted stripe. Sportswool base fabric is a 30% wool 70% polyester blend. Lateral mesh panels inserted for improved breathability.

V-neck with elasticated binding in black for better fit and increased comfort.

Athletic silhouette emphasising the anatomical form of the body.

Cricket GearCricket and leisure sweaters are made from 100% wool, cotton, or acrylic.

Shin pad is made from leather.

Athletes Uniforms

Functions:- easy movement

- heat and moist comfort

- breathability

Materials:- cotton, cotton/polyester blends

- nylon mesh lining

New technology:Gore-Tex®

Gore-Tex® Technology

Invented in 1978, Gore-Tex® is specifically engineered to form an impenetrable barrier against wind and water while maintaining breathability.

Composition:

- outer layer

- Gore-Tex® membrane

- liner layer

Gore-Tex® membrane

It is a film like laminate with billions of micropores per square inch. Each pore is smaller than a water drop, bigger than a molecule of water vapour.

GORE-TEX® fabric is breathable

The more active we become, the more heat and moisture our body produces. Breathable outerwear and footwear aids our body's natural cooling process by allowing perspiration vapour to escape. Apparel that is not breathable causes excess moisture to accumulate next to our body, which makes one feel uncomfortable. Wetness next to our skin can be even worse in cooler temperatures, when you become susceptible to getting chilled.

These are why all the breathing is necessary. With GORE-TEX® outerwear and footwear, you stay dry and comfortable when you're active and there's no perspiration buildup to make you cold.

GORE-TEX® fabric is waterproof

Raindrops hitting the fabric's outer surface are bouncing right off the top because the fabric is totally waterproof. They could be big raindrops, pounding raindrops, and they'd still be bouncing off the surface.

No moisture can penetrate the GORE-TEX® fabric because the water drops are always bigger than the micropores in the GORE-TEX® membrane.

Sport Equipment Tennis racket:Earlier rackets were made from wood or aluminium.

Now they are made from textile composites:

glass fire, graphite, ceramics, boron, Kevlar, and blends to increase strength and durability and to reduce weight.

Graphite fibre rackets are up to 5 times stronger than aluminium ones and 13 times stronger than the traditional wooden ones

Sport Equipment

CyclingRacing bicycle frames are now made from carbon fibre reinforced composites to reduce weight and to improved performance.

For mountain bikes carbon composites are used for flexural strength and fatigue resistance.

Sport Equipment

Golf Clubs•Multi-Material Graphite Tip Shaft: Combines steel and graphite into one shaft. This new technology offers straighter shots, better feel, and the easy-to-hit playability;

•The graphite tip is 50% stronger than steel. This means optimal stability at impact for consistently straighter shots. When combined with steel shaft, the results are consistency and distance in every iron shot.

Sport Facilities

Commonly used sailcloth:1. Woven polyester fabric – low stretch

achieved by elimination of crimp; uses plain weaves to achieve tightness; high tenacity and high initial modulus yarn used.

2. Woven nylon fabric – light weight; good breaking and tear resistance; coated to control porosity; plain weave.

3. Laminates with oriented polyester film.

4. Exotics such as carbon fibre and laminated composites.

Other fibre used for sailcloth: Spectra, carbon and Kevlar.

Sport Facilities

Hot air balloonRip-stop woven nylon fabrics in the range of 30-60 g/m2 weight are used for hot air ballooning.The rip-stop design is suitable to prevent propagation of fabric tear. The fabric is coated with a thin layer of polyurethane to reduce porosity.

A typical balloon is made of around 100 panels, totalling 1,500 m2 of fabric.

Others Sport Facilities