Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) - A Potential Future for Tennis Racket Production : Could 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing eventually replace the current manufacturing method?

Abstract

Currently, tennis racket production is lengthy and labour-intensive, using carbon composite materials, produced mainly in the Far East to keep production costs low, keep companies competitive and profitable.

The main objective of this thesis was to establish what production advantages additive manufacturing (AM) could have, if it were to become the new generally-accepted method of racket production.

The method involved understanding aspects of innovation, racket production history, 3D printing (3DP) history, types, and solid modelling, to produce a standard tennis racket design process framework, to then produce a standard, full-length, 1:1 scaled, tennis racket prototype – including final assembly parts for the stringing of the racket – made of PA2200 Nylon, within the constraints of a SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) 3DP machine. An aesthetically different variant of the original “basic” model, keeping within the external surface boundaries of the racket’s main body, was produced to highlight the potential of future racket production with 3DP.

Theoretically, a standard tennis racket of 685.8 mm, could have been produced as one part, in the then-largest, commercially-accessible SLS 3D printing machine, the EOSINT P760, whose length is 700 mm (according the manufacturer’s (EOS) documentation). However, the key technical challenge, was that the racket length dimension exceeded 650 mm (the limitation set by the service provider, Shapeways) to limit production risk associated with large parts.

The solution resulted in a multi-part racket, designed in Dassault Systèmes’ SolidWorks: The main part was set to a length of 650 mm, while one removable “Outer Grip”, which, when produced twice, and added to the final assembly, would create the grip. Once the “Basic” model was created, including grommets and bumpers, the variant, “Hexa”, could be designed and produced, keeping in mind that the Basic’s bumpers, grommets, and grips, could be interchangeable between rackets. By comparing two current production methods, by production activities, the ability to produce custom-designed and -produced 3D printed rackets, production could require less labour, machinery and tools at the production site, while resulting in innovation developing more rapidly, giving focus to creativity, and potentially, the democratization of racket design and production.