engleski

Surface roughness of fibre reinforced composite sails as quality indicator for its appropriate use

Having in mind that maximum sail performance or usage can be achieved with an optimal aerodynamic shape of the sails, stability of the initial sail shape, its air impermeability and smooth surface sailmakers thought that their search for the ideal sailchloth is finished when laminated sails were first introduced in the early 1970s. Those sails that were made as fibre reinforced composites (FRC) had all in one: light weight, high strength, low stretch and smooth surface1. Although FRC sails revolutionised sailmaking and sailing in whole, today after almost 50 years of research and development in the field, the search for the perfect sailcloth, especially in the racing or high demanding sailing, is not finished. One of the sailcloth quality parameters that was not jet investigated in deep and fully understand is sailcloth`s surface smoothness/roughness. That is why we started to investigate surface roughness of the most wanted FRC sailcloth. By using modified KES (Kawabata Evaluation System) measurements, we manage to determine differences in surface roughness and friction coefficient for the face and the beck side of the investigated FRC sailcloth. Such findings can explain why some high-performance and highly sophisticated sailcloth are not useful in winning a race.

sailcloth ; surface geometry ; sailcloth quality ; surface smoothness ; friction coefficient ; objective evaluation ; KES surface tester

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