Materials Science in Sports for the Beijing Winter Olympics

The 24th Winter Olympic Games ended perfectly in Beijing recently, and the Winter Paralympic Games also kicked off on March 4. Behind the wonderful competition moments of the Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, technology wisdom stories have been staged. Among them, the technology elements related to technical textiles are outstanding and there are many highlights. Many new materials contribute to these two international events, helping China to run the Olympics in green and technology.

Do you know about the materials science in sports?

Shanghai Petrochemical, a subsidiary of Sinopec, put on the carbon fiber "coat" for the torch of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games, which is the first time in the world to make the shell of the Olympic torch with carbon fiber composite materials, solving the technical problem that the torch needs to resist high temperature when burning hydrogen fuel, making it "light, solid and beautiful". It is the first time in the world to make the shell of Olympic torch with carbon fiber composite material, which solves the technical problem of high temperature resistance of the torch when burning hydrogen fuel, and makes it "light, solid and beautiful", so that it can be used normally in the environment of hydrogen burning above 800 degrees Celsius. Shanghai Petrochemical and the Institute of Nuclear Research (INR) worked together to introduce high-performance resin and carbon fiber together to make carbon fiber composites, and finally through process adjustments, the upper half of the torch combustion end was vitrified at a high temperature of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius, effectively solving the problem of blistering and cracking of the torch shell in the process of high temperature preparation, to achieve both temperature and fire resistance requirements. Compared with the cold metal torch shell, "Feiyang" makes the torchbearer feel warmer and helps the "Green Olympics". Scientists are studying the materials science in sports.

Some scientific progress has been made in the materials science in sports.

According to the Winter Olympics opening ceremony props division, used for the opening ceremony of the light-emitting rod using carbon fiber composite materials, 9.5 meters long, the first end of 3.8 centimeters in diameter, the end of the diameter of 1.8 metric, weighing 3 pounds 7 taels. This seemingly ordinary rod is not only full of technology, which is also full of rigid and flexible Chinese aesthetics. The original luminous rod was made of a stainless steel prop rod that weighed 6 pounds, and although it didn't weigh much, the length was too long, causing the rod to wobble a lot and making it difficult to control. The final prop team decided that the carbon fiber composite material, which is widely used in the rods, is not only light weight and high strength, but also better control.

Some scientific progress has been made in the materials science in sports.

Some scientific experiments on the materials science in sports are being conducted now. Yang Jintian, a professor of sports biomechanics at Hebei University of Economics and Business, and his research team established a database of speed skaters' foot shape and soles, and a 3D scanning and printing system for the soles of the feet. It took more than 1 year to successfully develop the first generation of high-performance carbon fiber composite speed skates. Compared with Chinese high-end speed skating skates, the weight of carbon fiber skates is reduced by 3-4% and the peeling strength of skates is increased by 7%. Professor Yang Jintian said that the team will promote the iteration of skates, and the second generation of domestic skates will be able to compete with similar foreign products.

In order to make the "F1 on ice" called domestic snowmobile high-speed Mercedes-Benz, the snowmobile body used in the material light weight, high strength. Therefore, the manufacture of snowmobiles targeting carbon fiber composite materials, the use of high-strength grade domestic TG800 astronautics-grade carbon fiber composite materials. The material is produced by TISCO, which can make snowmobiles and snowmobile helmets. After the use of carbon fiber composite materials, the snowmobile can ensure the safety of athletes under the premise of maximum weight reduction of the body, reduce the center of gravity, so that the snowmobile slide up more smoothly. It is reported that the carbon fiber composite material double snowmobile body weight is only about 50 kg.

Dalian University of Technology research team used carbon fiber, glass fiber, elastomer three components of the new material synthesis designed a ski helmet, so that its stiffness increased four times, tensile strength increased three times. The shell is similar to the curved siding commonly used in rockets, which can play a "four-two" effect. The helmet weighs only about 700 grams, and its protection is at least 20% higher than European standards without a significant increase in weight and thickness. The helmet also takes full account of the characteristics of the Asian head shape. The team collected a large number of national team athletes' head shape data, and developed design software to realize the customization of athletes' helmets, effectively improving the comfort of wearing for a long time.