Carbon fiber has been widely used in the sports field due to its excellent properties such as light weight, high strength and corrosion resistance.
Badminton made its Olympic debut as a demonstration sport at the 1972 Munich Olympics; it reappeared as a demonstration sport at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, it officially became an Olympic event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when men's and women's singles and doubles competitions were held for the first time. Mixed doubles were added to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Paralympic badminton made its debut at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
History of the development of carbon fiber composites in badminton
The earliest badminton rackets were made of solid wood, and later, following the development of tennis racket technology, badminton rackets turned into laminated wood. From the 1960s, badminton rackets began to use aluminum or steel, with aluminum mainly used for the racket head and steel for the racket shaft.
Because the joint between the head and the shaft is subjected to high stress during the game, fractures often occur at this location. In 1968, Yonex introduced the T-joint concept, connecting the head to the shaft by inserting a third T-shaped element made of high-strength steel. In 1978, Yonex produced the first carbon fiber composite badminton rackets in Japan: the Carbonex 8 B-8500B1, which weighed less than 100 grams. Since then, most competition badminton rackets have used carbon fiber composites, while cheaper leisure rackets still use aluminum and steel.
The first carbon fiber badminton racket was born in 1978
The manufacturing method of carbon fiber composite (CFRP) badminton rackets is similar to that of tennis rackets, but also very different. The shaft is hollow and made in a similar way to a tennis racket frame, but it is straight and has a much smaller cross section (round). The head is not hollow but solid, as it is made of folded and compressed carbon fiber prepreg, which is then covered in a mold; the head and the (precured) shaft are then connected by a T-joint of CFRP, sliding the two horizontal tips into the ends of the folded prepreg and the vertical tip into the hollow shaft, and then curing after the mold is closed.
Latest Developments in Carbon Fiber Composites for Badminton Rackets
Badminton rackets are differentiated according to different characteristics: flexibility, weight and balance point, from head-heavy to head-light. Carbon fiber composites can optimize these characteristics by changing the type of fiber used (from high-strength to ultra-high modulus carbon fiber), fiber orientation and layup. Modifying the mold can also optimize the cross section of the head to improve resistance to high tension and reduce aerodynamic drag. The most famous producers are Yonex, Victor, Carlton, FZ Forza, Dunlop, Li Ning.
The performance of badminton rackets can be further optimized by using a mixture of multiple types of fiber materials, such as the Yonex "Nanoflare 800 Pro" containing high-stiffness Toray M40X carbon fiber and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber (to improve shock absorption performance). The Yonex Carbonex8000 head uses carbon fiber composites mixed with titanium mesh or carbon nanotube materials to obtain more stable hits.
The overall performance of the racket can be improved by mixing CFRP with other materials
In addition, in addition to badminton, CFRP is also used in badminton, such as the CarbonSonic badminton produced by Victor, which uses foam feathers reinforced with CFRP to reduce weight and improve durability.
Feathers in badminton are reinforced with CFRP
Since the badminton competition appeared in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games, some wheelchairs and standing athletes (Figure 5) have used carbon fiber rackets in the competition. Especially for wheelchair athletes, the wheelchair structure is relatively complex, and welded aluminum or magnesium tubes are used for the basic structure of the wheel, but the wheel and seat sometimes use carbon fiber composites to reduce weight and improve maneuverability.
CFRP is used in badminton rackets and wheelchairs in the Paralympic badminton sport
Standing athletes participate in badminton competitions in the Paralympic Games
The overall performance of the racket can be improved by mixing CFRP with other materials
