Our research

With pefc Artte Telai scores a point for the best sustainability

What do table tennis and forests have in common?
The wood is born from the trees and comes to be the ideal conjunction between the body of the table tennis athlete and the ball.
We tell you this link in this story of sport and nature that begins in Trentino, in the Val di Fiemme and more precisely, in the forest of Paneveggio, famous for its “resonance wood”.

From this forest, managed by the province of Trento and PEFC certified for its sustainability, it is cut the wood that gives the world’s most prestigious musical instruments. Music but not only.

From this forest also comes the wood that has been used for the realization of the first PEFC certified table tennis racket in the world.
But musical instruments and table tennis rackets do non have common only the origin.
In fact, the design of a table tennis chassis, equal to the most sophisticated musical instrument, requires in-depth skills in the field of mechanics of vibrations and knowledge in the use of materials.
Between the news of production 2019 “ Italia” is distingueshed, exclusively carried out with Stone Pine , Resonance Spruce and Larch coming from the PEFC certified alpine forests.
Five layers and 76 grams of sustainability. A wonderful mix of technology and craftsmanship that gives life to an object in which nature, technique and art is combined with perfection, giving the ideal instrument to the athletes in search of parables and a special feeling.
Athletes like Alessandro Baciocchi, Italian national champion and exceptional testimonial which has found a well-balanced blade with very check but also quick in the "Italia" racket, thanks to a touch of ball, the sensitivity and the parable that make it as a master.
The use of PEFC certified wood of Artte Telai and a winning choice, a perfect balance between sports performance and environmental sustainability, that tells another positive story of italian excellence in the world.


TRADITION AND INNOVATION

ARTTE stands for wood technology, careful selection of wood species, cutting sections, fiber orientation and layers arrangement in order to ensure the best results in the making of professional table tennis blades. ARTTE is also a synonym for constant research in the fields of Fiber Reinforced Woods, heat treating and injection procedures, as well as glues and special lacquers.

OUR PRODUCTION


3
DEF – DEFENSIVE
3
ALL – ALLROUND
9
OFF – OFFENSIVE

MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY

Every wood layer composing the blade is a single and monolithic piece, created without any junctions and with carefully selected fiber arranged in order to ensure the best mechanical behavior and vibration transmission. For the same reason some woods are processed with ancient techniques and procedures belonging to the art of lutherie.


PROCEDURES

The processing technologies imply an exact correspondence between thicknesses, the theoretical sample and the validated prototype, precise dosing and maximum uniformity of glues followed by an accurate instrumental examination. The frame shaping uses the most advanced numeric control technology in order to ensure a perfect and reproducible correspondence to the sample.
The handle construction and shaping, on the contrary, are entirely artisanal. This is essential to guarantee an ergonomic grip that can effectively transfer precise movements and homogeneous flows of the stress field to the the blade. The handle finishing requires subsequent applications of a specific lacquer designed to ensure a better grip and tactile perception while avoiding the slipperiness and abrasion usually caused by the sweat acids of our palms.

LAB TESTS

Just like a sophisticated musical instrument, a table tennis blade implies careful designing and a profound knowledge of the vibration mechanics and materials rheology fields. FEM (Finite Element Method) modeling allows to create the set of preliminary simulations that leads to the prototype.
The following validation requires lab tests on a test bed aimed at verifying the correspondence to key mechanical parameters, such as: the spectral analysis and the detection of the main vibration modes frequencies (Chips Mode and Membrane Mode), which represent the deformation and stress states.

TESTING

During the designing of any competitive sports equipment, the fine tuning and field testing stages are crucial.
For the construction of its table tennis blades, ARTTE can count on the collaboration of renowned coaches of this discipline and reigning champions from different categories.
Our tests, carried out during a normal game, allow to collect the necessary feedback to fine tune and constantly improve the products. Besides, they make it possible to validate the results obtained from calculations models and lab test.