Table Tennis: Effect of Humidity on Racket Rubber Tribology

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

Automated summary

This study experimentally investigated the frictional response of four different popular rubbers under different humidity levels, finding that humidity does affect the frictional characteristics of the rubbers. Additionally, the finish of the ball surface was found to have a significant effect on the frictional response of the rubbers.