Advances in Design and Materials for Indoor Sports Surfaces

Alexander Walker, Aleksandar Subic

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    2 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Natural, synthetic and combinations of natural and synthetic materials are used widely in contemporary sports surfaces which have been designed to encourage elastic deformation under load, in order to increase athletic performance and at the same time reduce the risk of injury. In response to this need, manufacturers have developed a wide variety of indoor sports flooring systems types, which are generally separated into two major categories, area-elastic sports surfaces and point-elastic sports surfaces. Area elastic sport surface structures attenuate energy by allowing deformation over a comparatively large area, where as point elastic sport surface structures deform in response to applied forces over a relatively small area, in close proximity to the point of impact. Sports surfaces can therefore be extremely complicated arrangements of materials, which contribute to a surface's complex behaviour. The materials used in each of these surface categories, attenuate the energy applied to a surface by an athlete, in order to reduce the energy returned to the athlete. Viscoelastic materials are therefore used as synthetic shock absorbers, in order to reduce the amplitude and increase the duration of an applied shock. To understand the cushioning properties of these materials, it is necessary to consider the structural aspects of the various material combinations. It is the aim of this chapter to discuss the types of sports surface materials used, the ways in which the materials are configured and the performance standards which have been applied, in order to evaluate athletic performance and reduce the risk of injury to an athlete.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationAdvances in Engineering Materials, Product and Systems Design
    PublisherTrans Tech Publications
    Pages47-61
    Number of pages15
    ISBN (Print)9783037855850
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

    Publication series

    NameAdvanced Materials Research
    Volume633
    ISSN (Print)1022-6680

    Keywords

    • Biomechanical
    • Environmental
    • Materials
    • Performance
    • Safety
    • Sports surface

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