Design Life-Cycle

Joanne Cai

DES40A - Section 8

Professor Christina Cogdell 

14 March 2023

The Materials in the Life Cycle of a Tennis Racket

Tennis is one of the most common sports internationally, and playing tennis requires only a few pieces of equipment such as the tennis ball, racket, and possibly some sports shoes and outfit. When playing tennis, it is important for the players to choose the right racket for themselves, considering that rackets could have different effects on performance, depending on the quality and their materials. The life cycle of a tennis racket in the perspective of most consumers is simply from purchasing a brand new racket to tossing away a worn out racket. However, the life cycle of a racket is beyond that when environmental impacts are taken into account - from acquiring raw materials to decomposing the racket. Assessing the life cycle of the tennis racket opens up another perspective for consumers, especially looking into the materials needed to make, transport, distribute, and recycle a tennis racket, which implies the impact of a single tennis racket on the environment.

Tennis rackets are made of composites of materials such as fiber, graphite, glass, boron, ceramic, wood, and aluminum. Tennis rackets today though, are mostly made of carbon fibers due to the strength, flexibility, and the light weight that they provide (Jenkins 232). For tennis rackets, carbon fibers, also known as graphite fibers, are made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and a small amount of petroleum pitch. PAN and pitch are made by different spinning methods such as melt, melt assisted, dry, wet, and dry-jet wet spinning. However, melt spinning is not used for PAN since it can decompose at high temperature. Therefore, manufacturers would use the melt assisted method instead, where water is used as a hydrating agent to decrease the melting point and energy of PAN. After PAN fibers are spun, silicon oil, fatty acid derivatives, or guar gum is applied. PAN and pitch then go through stabilization, carbonization, and sometimes graphitization to form into carbon fibers. In stabilization, PAN fibers are oxidized in air, and gases such as ammonia and hydrogen cyanide are used to control the temperature. Then, PAN fibers are carbonized under a heating process in a nitrogen environment. In addition to that, some manufacturers may choose to go through graphitization as well, which involves heating at higher temperatures (Chung). The handle of the racket is made of polyurethane foam and butt end caps are made from different thermoplastics (Jenkins 237). Tennis racket grips are made of either rubber, polyurethanes, or polyesters, or a combination of these materials (Jenkins 238). Natural rubber is made from latex and rubber trees while synthetic rubber are petroleum and natural gas byproducts. Petroleum and natural gas are found underground formed from decayed organic materials. The strings of the racket are made of natural gut, polyester, or nylon. Natural gut strings are made from cow serosa, which is a part of the cow’s intestines, while polyester and nylon are made from petroleum (Luong). Lastly, the grommets, which are the holes where strings go through the frame, are made of polyamides, a thermoplastic material. After acquiring the raw materials for the racket parts, the production process will begin. 

The process of manufacturing a tennis racket begins with coating the carbon fibers with resin to form into sheets. Since the sheets are soft at this stage, they are folded in 7 to 12 layers and cut to size to wrap around a racket template that is hollow inside, which forms the basic layout of the racket. To harden the frame, the racket will go under a heating process, where air is also pumped into the template to bond the carbon fiber layers. After the frame is removed from the mold, it will be sanded and polished to obtain a smooth surface. The hollow core will then be filled with polyurethane foam to strengthen the overall structure of the racket. Then, the racket will be placed in a drilling machine, where the string holes are drilled. Frames will be coated with paint and glossed which contain various pigments, binders, solvents, and additives. Decals are put in water to be wet when applying manually to the frame, and scraped continuously until air bubbles are gone. In the final stage, the butt cap is applied to the end of the handle and grip tape is wrapped around the handle. Workers will string the rackets one at a time on stringing machines, except for some professional rackets where consumers choose to string on their own. Lastly, a brand name or logo could be screen printed on the strings depending on the tennis racket company (Woodward). Finally, the rackets are ready to be packaged and transported.

Most tennis rackets are made in and transported from China, Japan, and other parts of Asia. After tennis rackets are manufactured, they will be inspected and packaged. Bubble wrap is one of the most common packaging materials used for tennis rackets as the air-filled pockets protect the item during distribution and transportation. Bubble wrap is made from low-density polyethylene resin, where it is melted to form into plastic sheets (Suta). Bubble wraps are formed by placing two of the plastic sheets on top of each other, where one sheet goes under the suction process and the other sheet is sealed on top to trap air, creating bubbles. Cardboard boxes are also widely used for tennis racket pacakaging. They are usually made of recycled paper. After packaging the rackets, they will be transported to retailers locally and globally by commercial vehicles such as airplanes, trucks, vans, ships, and so forth. At this stage, fossil fuels are highly required. Fossil fuels are derived from the plant and animal remains found underground (Curley xi). After distributing tennis rackets, more materials could be used for renewing the rackets once they are worn out. 

Some methods of maintaining and reusing a tennis racket are to replace old strings and the grip. If the strings of a racket begin to wear out, it is necessary to restring the racket. Racket owners can bring their rackets to a sports shop. The old strings will be cut off and the racket will be placed into a stringing machine to replace with new strings (Smith). If grips are worn out, it is important for them to be replaced since they can cause injuries to tennis players as it becomes easier for them to twist their arms or wrists. The process of regripping is simply removing and tossing the old grip by peeling it off from the handle and putting new grip tape (Smith). There is no new material in this process other than the new strings and grips, the fossil fuels for transportation, and possibly materials for packaging the strings and grips such as plastic and paper. If the rackets are too damaged for renewing, they would either be thrown or sent to companies to be recycled. 

Tennis rackets are hard to recycle due to their heterogeneous materials, which are hard to break down into individual parts and reuse them. Old rackets can be sent to companies that specialize in recycling tennis rackets. They will break down the rackets into parts and reuse some of the materials to make new products. One method for recycling a tennis racket made from carbon fibers is depolymerization. Carbon fiber will be retrieved by dissolving cured epoxy resin with tripotassium phosphate and benzyl alcohol. Then, the carbon fiber extracted could be reused for other purposes (Shibata and Nakagawa 6). Otherwise, most consumers usually throw away their worn out rackets and they would eventually be transported to the landfill, which uses fossil fuels. When maintaining or renewing parts of the tennis rackets, they could also end up in the landfill. For example, old strings and grips are generally tossed when owners replace them with new ones. Strings made of natural guts and grips made from natural rubber are biodegradable. However, most of the materials used for a tennis racket are not biodegradable, such as synthetic rubber and polyester. The packaging from the distribution stage also causes problems for the environment since bubble wraps are made from plastic materials that are not biodegradable. This negatively impacts the environment as bubble wraps are widely used for packaging. Therefore, the life cycle is not very sustainable considering how it ends due to the fact that most materials used are hard to decompose.  

The life cycle of a tennis racket is not only from purchasing to tossing it away, but involves acquiring materials, manufacturing, distributing, transporting, maintaining, recycling, and waste managing. Materials are not only required during the manufacturing stage, but are required in every stage in order to go through the life cycle of a racket. However, since a single racket requires various types of materials and most of them are not biodegradable, this creates a burden to the environment. Even the transportation stage adds to the impact, where burning fossil fuels would produce large amounts of carbon dioxide, polluting the air. On the other hand, if a tennis racket is worn out, consumers tend to throw them away and purchase new ones instead of recycling. This eventually builds up on the landfill, creating an environmental impact as the rackets are not biodegradable and hard to recycle. Therefore, examining the materials used throughout the life cycle of a tennis racket allows consumers to take the environment into account when making decisions about purchasing a racket, and may also push actions for designers and engineers of possible redesigns in the future for more sustainable methods. 

Bibliography

Chung, Deborah D. L. Carbon Fiber Composites. Butterworth-Heinemann, 1994. 

Curley, Robert, and Britannica Educational Publishing. Fossil Fuels. Britannica Digital Learning, 2012. 

Jenkins, Mike. Materials in Sports Equipment. Woodhead Publishing, 2003. 

Luong, M. P. Infrared Thermography of the Damage of Natural Gut String.  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305092181_Infrared_thermography_of_the_damage_of_natural_gut_string. 

Shibata, Katsuji, and Mitsutoshi Nakagawa. “CFRP Recycling Technology Using Depolymerization under Ordinary Pressure.” Hitachi Chemical, Mar. 2014. 

Smith, Georgie. “How to Maintain Your Tennis Racket.” WD, 19 Apr. 2022, https://wd40.co.uk/tips-and-tricks/https-wd40-co-uk-tips-and-tricks-tennis-racket-maintenance/. 

Suta, Colby. How It's Made: Bubble Wrap. Katzke Packaging Co., 21 Aug. 2020, https://www.katzke.com/blog/how-its-made-bubble-wrap#:~:text=Bubble%20wrap%20is%20made%20from,to%20form%20the%20air%20bubbles. 

Taraborrelli, Luca, et al. “Materials Have Driven the Historical Development of the Tennis Racket.” MDPI, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 17 Oct. 2019, https://doi.org/10.3390/app9204352. 

Wang, Bin, et al. “The Application of Carbon Fiber Materials in Tennis Racket.” Applied Mechanics and Materials, vol. 473, Trans Tech Publications, Ltd., Dec. 2013, pp. 111–115. Crossref, doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.473.111.

Woodward, Angela. “Tennis Racket.” How Products Are Made, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Tennis-Racket.html#:~:text=They%20usually%20consist%20of%20a,ceramic%20fibers%20for%20added%20strength. 

Shutong Zhang

DES 40A

Professor Cogdell

13 March 2023

Embodied Energy In Tennis Racket

Tennis rackets have been in use for over a century, and thanks to advanced technology, they have undergone significant development from the original wooden plates to the modern rackets of today. Major William C. Wingfield created the first tennis racket in London in 1874. As the first racket was constructed of solid wood, the solid wood rackets made from McEnroe were not very durable and could easily break, potentially causing harm to players. Then, in 1968, the first steel racket appeared made by Wilson. In 1975, because of a lack of popularity, a tennis racket brand called Weed made the first oversized aluminum tennis racket. Wooden rackets were obsolete by the 1980s. Instead, companies like Prince and Dunlop shifted to using graphite frames () These developments make huge progress in tennis rackets because they become stronger and can be hit by a larger power from a tennis ball.

Although tennis has become increasingly popular in recent years, some people may still be unfamiliar with tennis rackets, especially those who never played tennis before since they have less chance to get in touch with tennis rackets. Tennis rackets contain five parts: racket base, frame, grip, strings, and grommets. Each part is made from different materials. Carbon fiber makes up the racket base. Graphite and other materials, including fiberglass, kevlar, tungsten, copper, and titanium, are used to make the frame. The grip is made of rubber, polyurethane, and polyester. Then, Nylon, polyester, and natural gut are the most part in strings. Grommets can use polyamides to make. In the paper, embodied energy will be discussed from the process that will follow all these materials to waste in the tennis racket life cycle. As a result, tennis rackets can be constructed using a variety of methods, depending on the materials and manufacturing processes used for each component.

The primary raw material used in the creation of carbon fiber is organic fibers, which are carbonized and graphitized to create micro SPAR ink materials. Carbon fiber is a secondary raw material that is produced from this process.  Resin carbon and pyrolytic carbon are the two types of carbon that are included in the matrix of carbon-carbon composites. Resin carbon is created by carbonizing and graphitizing synthetic glue or asphalt, whereas pyrolytic carbon is produced by the hydrocarbon gas vapor deposition process. The machine uses liquid fuel as the energy to be used in the process of producing carbon fiber, which is the secondary material. Graphite is a soft, crystalline form of carbon that is commonly used in the construction of tennis racket frames. It is typically obtained through mining, with China and India being the largest producers. It occurs naturally in metamorphic rocks such as marble, schist, and gneiss. According to Stewart (2019), Both open pit and underground mining techniques are used to extract it. Although naturally occurring ore is widely distributed and is mined worldwide, the United States, China, and India are the two nations that generate the most graphite. Polyamide is a type of polymer that is characterized by the presence of amide groups connecting its repeating molecular units. Two common types of polyamide are nylon and aromatic polyamides, which are amide polymers with phenyl rings as repeating units (Encyclopædia Britannica). Two main materials made of polyamide are nylon, and aromatic polyamides, which are amide polymers with phenyl rings as repeating units. Research on polymers was sparked by the successful creation of a usable fiber through chemical synthesis using components that were easily obtained from air, water, coal, or petroleum. From a melt or solution, nylon can be drawn, cast, or extruded via spinnerets to create fibers, filaments, bristles, or sheets that can be turned into yarn, cloth, and cordage (Encyclopedia Britannica). The machine that for melting the raw material use electricity to work. The creation of tennis rackets from raw materials involves the transformation of kinetic, thermal, chemical, and gravitational energy into embodied energy, which is a measure of the energy consumed throughout the manufacturing process.

In the process of manufacturing, much-advanced technology is used. Most factories of tennis rackets locate in Taiwan, China due to their ability to produce high-quality rackets at a low cost. One of the machines that are used in the factory is called the injection molding machine, which uses electricity to work. All the factories rely on electricity to use the machine, so more energy is better to produce electricity. In the factories, the part of the frame of the tennis racket should be molded and injection in order to make them. As Haines (1983) mentions that it will be recognized that retractable "pins" are required, which entirely enter through the molding at the injection stage and are afterward retracted to allow the molding to be removed, in order for the stringing holes to be molded-in. The metal alloy core of the frame requires carefully placed holes to be molded in, which are necessary for stringing the racket. The plastic material is left behind after the metal alloy is melted away to form a hollow pillar surrounding the string hole location that crosses the molding's hollow interior, in which thermal energy is used to melt the plastic material. An injection molding machine factories choose is a screw-type injection molding machine (page. 76). The equipment is typically used for casting aluminum, and the tin/bismuth alloy's high specific gravity. It was ideal for the necessary moving mold pieces to be automatically activated in order to fully benefit from the automated procedures. To ensure that the metal cores melted uniformly throughout the frame, the melt-out process was accomplished by conveyorizing the assembly through air-heated furnaces at 180°C, while also giving it a vibrating movement.

After finishing the manufacturing process, the next step is to shift tennis rackets to different locations. There are two types of transportation for tennis rackets. One is by ship and the other one is by container truck. Liquefied natural gas is used as fossil fuel in commercial ships. The fact that liquefied natural gas is mostly composed of methane, which has an estimated 86 times the greater potential for global warming than carbon dioxide, is a significant drawback. Gasoline, which is a fuel made from crude fuel and other petroleum liquids, is used in container trucks. Crude oil is heated in a furnace during the first step of refining until the majority of it turns to gas (Canada Energy Regulator). After entering an atmospheric distillation tower, the liquids and vapors are divided into several streams, or fractions, based on variations in boiling points.

After transportation, tennis rackets reach stores and consumers come to pick up their favorite ones. In the daily use of tennis rackets, consumers will use energy. When they take out the tennis racket from the bag before playing, gravitational energy and kinetic energy will be used. Munenori et al (2022) state that tennis players employ mechanical energy to propel themselves forward and strike the ball. Mechanical energy can be separated by translational energy, kinetic energy, and potential energy (page. 49). Every three energies will work together to produce the energy that a tennis player needs in order to hit the ball.

Although tennis rackets are usually thrown away by users, a certain part of the tennis racket can be recycled. For example, carbon fiber made of racket bases can be recycled. Using subcritical water and a catalyst, people broke down carbon fiber-reinforced plastics. Okajima et al (2011) who are students from Shizuoka University, claims that the yield of phenolic monomers was therefore 70.9% at the optimum conditions of 673K, 20MPa, 45min, and 2.5wt% potassium carbonate catalyst (page. 4). The recovered carbon fiber was in good condition and had sufficient tensile strength for recycling. They can be used to create new products, such as bicycle frames, aircraft parts, and even car components. This not only reduces waste but also conserves resources and energy by avoiding the need to produce new carbon fiber from scratch.

The recycling process of tennis racket waste may involve the use of various machines and energy sources. For example, the shredding and grinding of the racket materials may be done using industrial shredders or grinders powered by electricity, which may come from fossil fuel sources. The melting or pyrolysis of certain racket materials may also require the use of high-temperature furnaces or reactors that are powered by fossil fuels such as natural gas or coal. However, it is important to note that some recycling methods, such as mechanical recycling of carbon fiber, can significantly reduce the energy and carbon footprint compared to producing new materials from virgin resources. Additionally, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar can be used to power the recycling process, reducing the reliance on fossil fuels. Then, if the tennis racket is no longer usable, it should be disposed of properly. This entails transporting it to a facility that handles hazardous garbage or e-waste rather than putting it in the usual trash. This guarantees that the racket won't cause environmental damage or end up in a landfill.

Overall, the life cycle of tennis rackets involves the use of a variety of energy sources, from the extraction of raw materials to manufacturing, customer use, and eventual recycling and waste management. However, due to time constraints and limited knowledge, this paper has some limitations, such as not discussing pollution specifically. Moving forward, I plan to conduct more research on this topic and explore ways to manipulate pollution and protect the environment since it is a similar project topic to which creative experiment I did in high school.

Bibliography

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Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Polyamide. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 13, 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/science/polyamide 

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Murata, M., Fujii, N., & Suzuki, Y. (2022). Mechanical energy flow of the racket holding arm in the tennis serve focusing on the energy form＊. International Journal of Sport and Health Science, 20, 48–65. https://doi.org/10.5432/ijshs.202135 

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Karen Ma

Group Member Names: Joanne, Shutong

DES 40A

Professor Cogdell

The development of tennis rackets leads to waste

Whether you are new to tennis or an experienced player, you will have many questions when choosing a tennis racket. Different tennis racquets are made of different materials. Advances in material technology have brought breakthroughs in the materials used to make tennis racquets, with some materials being introduced by aerospace technology. In contrast, the usual wood and metal have been eliminated. Nowadays, the materials used to manufacture tennis rackets are constantly evolving and improving. The continuous advancement of tennis racquets has increased the life cycle of the products. In the development and progress of the tennis racket, there are some inherent contradictions in the development of science and technology and an extremely difficult and urgent problem faced by the global society today, which is the worldwide problem of pollution and waste.

Everything has its limits. A short product life cycle can have different positive or negative effects on the environment and ecology. Advanced technologies are used in the manufacturing process of tennis rackets to ensure high-quality and low-cost screw injection technology in the process of tennis racket manufacturing, where the sound of a machine collision between electric technology and electro-hydraulic hybrid technology can produce severe noise pollution. And the machines can cause material stagnation leading to production waste. The resin needed in the production process, when left in the mold cavity for a long time, can lead to thermal decomposition. And furthermore, it leads to burnt spots and mixed material contamination. This results in a burden-shifting situation. In the case of product innovation and improvement of product durability, product life cycle, and utility, the product life cycle is extended and the waste is reduced. But at the same time, with advanced technology, the waste generated in the manufacturing process of the product may become more. Consider the examples In 1963, wooden racquets made up almost all of the tennis racket market to the 1970s, metal racquets replaced most wooden racquets. Today, it is the world of composite materials such as carbon fiber, fiberglass, kevlar, high tensile carbon fiber, titanium, super rigid carbon fiber, and other materials used alone or in combination. These materials are lighter, stiffer, more durable, and more shock and vibration-absorbing than wood or aluminum. However, the production of carbon fibers creates epoxy resin bisphenol A (BPA) and releases it into the environment through leaching during the manufacturing process and from consumer products (Phan et al.).Recent studies have shown that low doses of BPA may have adverse effects on human health.

A good tennis racket product should include material healthiness, material recyclability, renewable energy, as well as carbon management, water management, and social equity. CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) is widely used in sporting goods because of its high tensile strength, high modulus of elasticity, and high dimensional stability (Mitsutoshi et al.) Synthetic fibers are one of the materials used in the manufacture of modern tennis rackets. The synthetic fiber manufacturing industry has been one of the most polluting industrial sectors. It accounts for about one-fifth of global industrial water pollution. It uses a large number of chemicals, many of which are carcinogenic. The textile industry releases many harmful chemicals, such as heavy metals and formaldehyde, into water and soil, and releases toxic gases, such as suspended particulates and sulfur dioxide, into the air (Aldalbahi, Ali, et al.). These hazardous wastes can cause disease and serious human health problems such as respiratory and heart disease.Extensive research on advanced applications of textile materials. Many types of technical textiles have been demonstrated in a variety of applications in different fields. The raw materials and their transformation into yarns, fibers, and fabrics are explored in terms of their introductory materials and process-related identification, followed by dyeing, printing, finishing, and further processing of technical textiles. The manufacturing industry is the mainstay of human wealth creation, but in the process of converting resources into products, it consumes a large number of limited resources and causes serious pollution to the environment(Chen, Erheng et al.). Prioritizing sustainable and eco-friendly materials is critical for reducing the environmental impact of tennis racket production. This can include the use of renewable materials like bamboo, which is lightweight and long-lasting, as well as natural rubber for grip handles. Furthermore, businesses should strive to use non-toxic dyes and finishes in their manufacturing processes to avoid harmful chemicals entering the environment. Overall, by emphasizing sustainability and social equity in the manufacturing of tennis rackets, companies can not only reduce their environmental impact but also promote a more responsible and ethical manufacturing approach.

Even if a product is good, it is a waste to generate a lot of environmental pollution during the manufacturing process. The frame of the mesh racket is made by die-casting and high-temperature manufacturing. As a key component of the manufacturing industry, the die-casting process has serious emission problems, which is not in line with the outlook of Industry green manufacturing. The prediction of environmental emissions from the die-casting process is the basis for optimizing environmental impact factors to reduce environmental pollution and worker health hazards (Curran). However, the physical cause-and-effect relationship between the impact factors and environmental emissions is difficult to model. The manufacturing of modern mesh rackets emits substances or energy to the environment that exceeds its self-purifying capacity, thus degrading the quality of the environment and adversely affecting human survival and development, ecosystems, and property (Watts, 2019). A better method should be used that can strongly support the optimization of chemical process parameters, die-casting island layout, etc., to achieve environmental emission reduction. It can also be easily applied to other processes, such as plastic molding, mechanical processing, and emission projection extrusion (Nalini, 2023). Finally, it is critical for both manufacturers and consumers to recognize the environmental impact of their actions and take steps toward a more sustainable future. While more effort and investment may be required in the short term, the long-term benefits of reducing waste and pollution will far outweigh the costs. As consumers, we can help by purchasing and disposing of products that are produced and disposed of in a sustainable manner, as well as reducing our own consumption and waste.

The waste generated by the production, use, packaging, and disposal of tennis racquets has a significant environmental impact that must be addressed through waste reduction strategies, sustainable practices, and material design innovations. Tennis racquets are susceptible to damage during use as a sporting product. Tennis racquets are made of various materials such as synthetic fibers, plastics, and metals. Tennis racket strings are mostly made of polyester and nylon mixed with cotton, with polyester and nylon accounting for the majority of production. Polyester and nylon are petroleum-derived plastic compounds that are common plastic waste that cannot be decomposed by the natural environment after disposal. Nylon is made from nonrenewable petroleum resources, requires a lot of energy to make, and requires a lot of water to cool the fibers (Panigrahi & Sharma, 2014). It emits a lot of carbon dioxide and sheds microplastic fibers during the water washing process. These materials are typically not biodegradable, and decomposition can take hundreds of years (Boldrin, Alessio, et al.) As a result, it is critical to reduce waste in the manufacturing process in order to reduce the environmental impact. Sustainable packaging practices are another important aspect of waste reduction. Manufacturers can reduce the amount of waste generated by packaging by using environmentally friendly materials such as biodegradable plastics or recycled paper (Neste, 2022). Furthermore, packaging can be designed to be reusable or easily recyclable in order to minimize the environmental impact of disposal. Manufacturers should consider material design innovations, in addition to waste reduction strategies, to reduce the environmental impact of mesh rackets. This could include using recycled or bio-based materials in the manufacturing process, as well as designing racquets that are simple to disassemble and recycle when their useful life is over. To reduce the amount of e-waste generated, manufacturers can also implement recycling programs that collect and recycle used racquets. In short, the manufacturing of tennis rackets generates a lot of waste, which degrades the environment. Manufacturers must implement waste reduction strategies, sustainable packaging practices, and material design innovations to mitigate this impact. Manufacturers can reduce the environmental impact of tennis racket production and contribute to a more sustainable future by using a circular economy model and environmentally friendly materials.

The evolutionary process of tennis rackets has indeed produced better improvements in the sports world. However, the process of product manufacturing has created a lot of pollution that is harmful to people, the environment, and the ecology. While extending the lifespan of products, it is necessary to demonstrate that such changes can be environmentally and socially sustainable while allowing products to progress and grow with the environment.

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