This article discusses the historical background of composite construction in recreational equipment and sporting goods. It provides information on the applications of composites in baseball bats, tennis rackets, and golf clubs. The applications of composites in bicycling, winter sports, aquatic sports, track, field, and archery equipment are also discussed.

The earliest commercial use of carbon fibers is often attributed to Thomas Edison's carbonization of cotton and bamboo fibers for incandescent lamp filaments. This article describes the manufacture of PAN-based carbon fibers and pitch-based carbon fibers. It discusses the properties and characteristics of carbon fibers in terms of axial structure, transverse structure, and interfacial bonding. The article discusses the typical applications of carbon fibers, including aerospace and sporting goods. It concludes with a discussion on anticipated developments in carbon fibers.

Filament winding is a process for fabricating a composite structure in which continuous reinforcements, either previously impregnated with a matrix material or impregnated during winding, is placed over a rotating form or mandrel in a prescribed way to meet certain stress conditions. This article describes the advancements in filament winding and lists the advantages and disadvantages of filament winding. It discusses the effects of fiber tension in filament winding and the selection of fibers, resins, and materials for filament winding. The article emphasizes the three basic filament-winding patterns, such as helical, polar, and hoop. It presents information on the applications of filament winding, including rocket motors, natural gas vehicle (NGV) tanks, and sporting goods. The article presents recommendations for the basic design guidelines for filament-winding design/manufacturing process and concludes with a discussion on fabrication recommendations.

Bulk molding compounds can be molded into a variety of complex shapes by methods that can be readily automated for high volume production. This article describes the formulation and processing (compound formation, and molding methods) of bulk molding compounds. It discusses the effects of fiber type, fiber length, and matrix type on thermoset bulk molding compounds. The markets for long-fiber-reinforced bulk molding compounds are electrical, ordnance, aerospace, industrial, sporting goods, and automotive applications.

Damping is the energy dissipation properties of a material or system under cyclic stress. The vibrational and damping characteristics of composites are important in many applications, including ground-based and airborne vehicles, space structures, and sporting goods. This article describes the damping characteristics of unidirectional composites, when they are subjected to longitudinal shear, longitudinal tension/compression, and transverse tension/compression. It presents equations that govern the overall damping capacity of beams that are cut from laminated plates. The article discusses the effect of temperature on damping and provides information on the relationship between damping and strength.

The recreation industry covers a huge number of sports, games, and activities that take place in environments as diverse as the activities themselves. This article addresses the corrosive attack on recreational equipment, such as recreational boats, firearms, bicycles, playground equipment, and climbing gear. It discusses the procedures for base materials selection, surface treatments and coatings, and good practice of maintenance to mitigate corrosion while addressing other functional issues for a given piece of equipment.

This datasheet provides information on key alloy metallurgy, fabrication characteristics, processing effects on physical and mechanical properties, and applications of Al-Mg high-strength casting alloy 535.0.

This article provides a summary of the concepts discussed in the articles under the Section “Constituent Materials” in ASM Handbook, Volume 21: Composites. The Section describes the major matrix resins and reinforcing fibers used in composite materials, as well as some of the intermediate material forms available for composite fabrication.

Anodizing is one of the most common surface treatments of aluminum and is performed for corrosion protection. This article describes the structure and growth characteristics of the types of anodic oxide films such as a barrier-type oxide film and a porous-type anodic oxide film. It discusses each step involved in the anodizing process of an aluminum or aluminum alloy specimen. The anodizing process includes pretreatments (degreasing, etching, and polishing), anodizing, coloring, and sealing. The article provides an observation of the morphology of the anodic oxide films by transmission electron microscopy and the scanning electron microscopy for testing properties of anodic oxide films.

This datasheet provides information on composition limits, heat treatment, processing effects on physical and mechanical properties, and applications of free-machining aluminum alloys 6033, 6040 and 6041.

The prepreg hand lay-up process is a versatile, reliable, cost-effective, and high quality process for fabricating large or small components. This article discusses the technique characteristics and applications of the process. It describes the stages involved in the process of lay-up, namely, lay-up definition, ply-kit cutting, layup, debulking, and preparation for curing. The article concludes with a discussion on the component properties and design guidelines of the prepreg hand lay-up process.

This article illustrates the polymer matrices used for composite materials. It describes the use of prepeg materials in manufacturing high-performance composites. The article discusses the various infusion processes for the development of fiber-reinforced composites, namely, resin transfer molding, vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding, and resin film infusion. It explains the composite- and matrix-toughening methods for fiber-reinforced composites, such as dispersed-phase toughening and interlayer toughening. The article concludes with information on optical microscopy, which provides an insight into the micro- and macrostructure of fiber-reinforced composites.

Aluminum and aluminum alloys are very suitable for extrusion and many types of profiles can be produced from easily extrudable alloys. This article lists the basic characteristics of aluminum and its alloys. It tabulates the aluminum extrusion alloys by series and lists the typical applications for 6xxx series aluminum extrusions. The article discusses three broad categories of extrusion profiles: solid profile, hollow profile, and semi hollow profile. It provides information on weldability and machinability, which are often considered in profile design and product performance. The article discusses different aluminum extrusion processes, such as the direct extrusion process and the indirect extrusion process. It schematically illustrates the plotting of flow stress and extrudability for several types of aluminum alloys. The article concludes with information on the heat treatment and precipitation hardening for alloys, such as 2xxx, 6xxx, and 7xxx.

Titanium metal passes through three major steps during processing from ore to finished product: reduction of titanium ore to sponge (porous form), melting of sponge and scrap to form ingot, and remelting and casting into finished shape. This article describes primary fabrication, including all operations that convert ingot into general mill products, such as billet, bar, plate, sheet, strip, tube, and wire. The section on secondary fabrication describes processes such as die forging, extrusion, hot and cold forming, machining, chemical milling, and joining. The article presents a short note on powder metallurgy products of titanium. Casting processes and properties are covered in the final section.

This article begins with a brief history of composite materials and discusses its characteristics. It presents an introduction to the constituents, product forms, and fabrication processes of composite materials. The article concludes with a discussion on the applications of organic-matrix, metal-matrix, and ceramic-matrix composites.

This article discusses the types, properties, and uses of continuous-fiber-reinforced composites, including glass, carbon, aramid, boron, continuous silicon carbide, and aluminum oxide fiber composites. While polyester and vinyl ester resins are the most used matrix materials for commercial applications, epoxy resins, bismaleimide resins, polyimide resins, and thermoplastic resins are used for aerospace applications. The article addresses design considerations as well as product forms and fabrication processes.

Solid modeling is the act of creating the three-dimensional models of various components and system using a computer-aided design (CAD) tool. This article describes the fundamental approaches of solid modeling, such as manufacturing operation simulation, parametric approach, and reference entities. It discusses the application of solid modeling systems to create expressions or variables and various surfaces for components. The use of high-end CAD systems to afford a number of sheet metal functions is reviewed. The article explains the explicit-parametric modeling and model verification for the solid modeling. It provides information on the application of solid modeling in associativity and concurrent engineering, product lifecycle management, and collaborative engineering.

Casting is one of the most economical and efficient methods for producing metal parts. In terms of scale, it is well suited for everything from low-volume, prototype production runs to filling global orders for millions of parts. Casting also affords great flexibility in terms of design, readily accommodating a wide range of shapes, dimensional requirements, and configuration complexities. This article traces the history of metal casting from its beginnings to the current state, creating a timeline marked by discoveries, advancements, and influential events. It also lists some of the major markets where castings are used.

This article discusses the advantages of polymer matrix composite for automotive application in terms of design drivers, noise, vibration, harshness efficiency, process materials property constraints, safety and reliability, design optimization, structural and appearance requirements, recyclability, and processability. It describes the properties of high-volume composites used in automotive industries. The article provides a discussion on state-of-the-art and developing technologies in automotive field.