Aluminium offers a reasonable balance of strength and stiffness but may be heavier. Carbon nanotubes provide the best performance for strength and stiffness with a lightweight frame. Wood is light but lacks durability and precision.
When evaluating the use of aluminium, carbon nanotubes, and wood to make badminton racket frames, we must consider their density, relative strength, and relative stiffness as detailed in the table. Aluminium has a density of 2.7 g/cm³, which might make it heavier than other materials, but it also possesses a reasonable balance of strength (relative strength of 0.3) and stiffness (relative stiffness of 69). This translates to a potentially more durable racket but could result in less maneuverability due to its weight.
Carbon nanotubes, with their incredible relative strength of 600 and a remarkable relative stiffness of 1000, offer the best properties for high-performance frames. Their low density of 1.5 g/cm³ ensures a lightweight racket frame that is both incredibly strong and stiff, which is optimal for speed and accuracy during gameplay.
Wood has the lowest density of 0.7 g/cm³, making it very light. However, with the lowest relative strength (0.1) and stiffness (10), wood frames are less durable and offer minimal resistance to bending which results in a lack of precision and power compared to the other materials.