Investigation of the resistance, durability and abrasion of printed elements applied to sports equipment

Abstract

The work investigated the durability of the labelling of sports equipment made of composite materials. Professional hockey sticks were taken for research. Research has been done on hockey stick wear for different players: centre and winger and defender. In addition, a study was made of hockey sticks for left-handers and right-handers. In the study of the wear of printed elements, sports equipment of various lengths was used. Contact research was carried out during training and competition. The study of the number of contacts was carried out on the basis of video recordings of trainings and games of the teams “Energija” - Elektrėnai (Lithuania) and the national team of the Belarusian Republic. The study carried out showed that the hockey stick wear of the centre striker and the winger during the competition and training is similar. During the competition, the hockey sticks of the centre strikers are most often in contact. It was found that the difference between contacts during training and playing depends on the intensity of the game, penalty time and strategy. When conducting a study of the wear of the printed elements applied to the hockey stick, depending on the position of the player, it was found that the wear of the sticks of the winger and the defender is the same, but that of the centre striker is different. When conducting a study of hockey stick wear depending on its length, the following conclusion was made: the taller the player, the longer his hockey stick and the maximum contact area. Research has shown that hockey stick wear is not affected by how the player holds the hockey stick, i.e. whether he is left-handed or right-handed. To study the abrasion of elements using the UGRA method, an original stand was created. With the help of this stand, studies of the abrasion of printed elements were carried out. Based on the study, it was concluded that the abrasion of printed elements most often occurs at the moment of contact of the objects of research, both with each other and with objects on the playing field. As a result, the printed elements split, peel off and become less noticeable, in addition, the name of the manufacturer's company is worn out and the hockey stick loses the player's personal identification data printed on the hockey stick. Recommendations are given on the peculiarities of printing and the location of printed elements on sports equipment.