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Table Tennis: Effect of Humidity on Racket Rubber Tribology

DOI:10.1007/s11249-021-01404-2
Authors:
Yingdan Wu at Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Yingdan Wu
A. Varenberg
A. Varenberg
A. Varenberg
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Michael Varenberg at Georgia Institute of Technology
Michael Varenberg
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Abstract and Figures

In contrast to a flourishing development of racket rubber coverings, or rubbers, no technical data can be found on their performance under different environmental conditions. In light of this, here we report an experimental study on the frictional response of four different popular rubbers, with pimples-in and pimples-out gometry, tested against three different balls at five levels of relative humidity. It is found that the humidity does affect the frictional characteristics of the rubbers, with all parameters being responsive to changes in the environmental conditions and reaching maximum at the humidity of about 45–60% in a majority of the cases. Probably the most interesting finding is that the ball surface finish has significant effect on the frictional response of all rubbers. This can provide players with the ability to affect the rubber performance at different levels of humidity by simply choosing between different balls. Graphic Abstract
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Vol.:(0123456789)
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Tribology Letters (2021) 69:31
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-021-01404-2
ORIGINAL PAPER
Table Tennis: Effect ofHumidity onRacket Rubber Tribology
Y.W u 1· A.Varenberg2· M.Varenberg1
Received: 3 December 2020 / Accepted: 22 January 2021 / Published online: 17 February 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature 2021
Abstract
In contrast to a flourishing development of racket rubber coverings, or rubbers, no technical data can be found on their per-
formance under different environmental conditions. In light of this, here we report an experimental study on the frictional
response of four different popular rubbers, with pimples-in and pimples-out gometry, tested against three different balls at
five levels of relative humidity. It is found that the humidity does affect the frictional characteristics of the rubbers, with all
parameters being responsive to changes in the environmental conditions and reaching maximum at the humidity of about
45–60% in a majority of the cases. Probably the most interesting finding is that the ball surface finish has significant effect on
the frictional response of all rubbers. This can provide players with the ability to affect the rubber performance at different
levels of humidity by simply choosing between different balls.
Graphic Abstract
HUMIDITY?
Keywords Ping pong· Racket covering· Friction· Stickiness· Grip
1 Introduction
According to the International Table Tennis Federation
(ITTF), there are now more than 1,600 different rubbers
on the List of Authorized Racket Coverings—an impres-
sive growth since the first sponge rubber was introduced
at the 1952 World Championship [1]. However, in contrast
to this flourishing development of racket rubber coverings,
no technical data can be found on their performance under
different humidity, which can range within quite wide limits
(e.g., from 24 to 80% relative humidity, as tested in [2], or,
from 30 to 70% relative humidity recommended indoor, as
stated in [3]). This lack of information renders many players
unable to handle high humidity conditions, and one can find
threads devoted to this subject in the table tennis forums,
e.g. [4], where players express their frustration about sudden
inability to spin and loop with reliability. This can reduce
beginner’s passion for table tennis and even displease table
tennis masters, which clearly adds to the list of problems
with the table tennis equipment [5].
* M. Varenberg
varenberg@gatech.edu
1 Woodruff School ofMechanical Engineering, Georgia
Institute ofTechnology, Atlanta, GA30332, USA
2 Independent Researcher, 7 Trumpeldor Str, 32583Haifa,
Israel
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