December 03, 2014

3D honeycomb fabric plates.

This is a short post to talk about a product that I am about to place on our web site.
It is a series of plates in different thickness and density made from a 3D honeycomb fabric.

I have used that fabric for about 3 years now with great success on quite a few projects.
The 3D fabric is woven in honeycomb pattern. The 2 mm thickness is given by a glass micro sphere structure embedded in the waving and enzymed in position.
The fabric has got some specific advantages compared to Aramid honeycomb and Airex.

1. It is respectively 2 time and 4 times cheaper to process.
2. It bends better than both core materials above.\ and thus complies easily in molds
3. It has a higher absolute tensile strength than above core materials if used with the same fabric

The cons is mostly:

1. It is respectively 20% and 50% heavier than Airex/ Honeycomb ( impregnated product ).
2. The tensile strength reported to density is lower ( that is because the resin that it drinks binds the skin stronger but makes the plate heavier )

The reason is that the fabric, although specifically enzymed, still absorbs more resin than a non woven core material.

Anyway, we are offering a series of high tech plates at a much lower price than our Airex and Nomex plates for the same stiffness ( but higher weight ).

The plates are:

2.5 mm 6/2/6 plate at 2 kgs/ sq.m ( 6 oz/ sq.yd carbon/ 2 mm core/ 6 oz/ sq.yd carbon )