Honeycomb Aluminum Honeycomb

Structural Core Material with Highest Strength to Weight Ratio

Excellent Strength to Weight Ratio Corrosion Resistant Elevated temperature performance Fire and Fungus resistant Will not absorb Moisture Easily Machined and Formed

Aluminum honeycomb offers maximum stiffness and one of the highest strength to weight ratios of any structural core material available. The foil is cleaned and treated with a chemical conversion coating for corrosion resistance. For maximum corrosion protection you can choose Al core's proprietary PAA coating which provides protection from the harshest environments.

Typical 5052 Aluminum Honeycomb Typical Properties

Density Cell Size pcf 3.1 4.5 6.1 8.1 2.6 3.8 inch 8Jan 8Jan 8Jan 8Jan May32 May32 0.001 415 280 210 275 200 168 140 41 20 0.0007 245 150 105 170 110 102 80 24 12 0.002 1575 1075 760 810 575 540 310 112 50 0.0015 1030 660 450 565 400 345 220 77 37 0.001 580 380 270 345 240 225 150 51 25 Gage inch 0.0007 Compression Strength PSI (Stabilized) 75 F 305 350 F 200 75F 145 75 F 215 350 F 145 75 F 132 350 F 90 32 16 75F Crush Sheer Strength "L" "W" Sheer Modulus "L" "W"

5.3 6.9 2 3.1 4.4 5.7 6.9 8.1

May32 May32 16Mar 16Mar 16Mar 16Mar 16Mar 16Mar

0.0015 0.002 0.0007 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025 0.003

730 1140 180 340 555 870 7785 1735

500 780 100 200 375 600 780 1075

340 570 70 145 270 410 570 760

425 595 122 215 335 465 600 735

340 500 80 145 235 380 500 575

275 380 71 128 220 305 380 490

200 275 65 90 145 200 275 310

64 91 17 32 50 70 91 112

31 42 9 16 24 34 42 50

** Other densities and cell sizes available

Nomex Honeycomb

Lightweight Non-Metallic Composite Honeycomb

High Strength to Weight Ratio Corrosion Resistant Flame Retardant Good Thermal Insulation Formable

Nomex honeycomb is the standard for lightweight non-metallic composite construction. Commercial Grade honeycomb made with aramid fiber paper (DUPONT Nomex or equivalent) coated with heat resistant phenolic resin offers excellent resiliency, low density, lower pricing and high strength to weight ratio.

Typical Nomex Honeycomb Properties

Density Cell Cell Configuration Bare "L" Direction "W" Direction Compression Plate Shear

lb/foot

Size (inch)

Strength PSI Typ Min 88 86 162 190 190 190 190 238 333 333 333 333 333 513 665 665

Strengt h PSI Typ 90 65 90 195 175 170 160 110 265 220 225 225 150 310 340 285 Min 68 48 59 133 133 133 95 71 204 204 204 150 95 252 304 275

Modulus KSI Typ 4.3 23.2 2.7 6.4 5.8 5.4 4.8 3.2 8.2 7.8 6.8 6.7 3.9 10.3 12.3 9.8

Strengt h PSI Typ 50 65 95 95 105 105 110 130 145 160 150 185 185 205 235 245 Min 38 38 55 70 64 64 76 71 130 106 106 125 114 124 143 143

Modulus KSI Typ 2.4 3.7 5 3.3 3.9 4.8 3.8 6.3 4.5 5.2 6.4 6.8 8.9 5.8 7.1 6.7

2.0 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 6.0

3/16 3/16 3/16 1/8 3/16 1/4 1/8 3/16 1/8 3/16 1/4 1/8 3/16 1/8 1/8 3/16

RH OV OV RH RH RH OV-20% OV RH RH RH OV-20% OV RH RH RH

120 110 190 280 290 270 255 270 490 490 470 480 470 670 880 935

RH = Regular Hex OV = Over-expanded OV-20% = Partial Over-expanded

Kevlar Honeycomb

Thermal and Moisture Stable Honeycomb

High Strength to Weight Ratio Up to a 40% Weight Savings vs Nomex Excellent Thermal and Moisture stability Improved Shear Strength & Modulus (4x stiffer than Nomex) High toughness Conforms to Stringent Smoke, Toxicity & Flammability Stds. Kevlar is the newest addition the honeycomb line. It is an extremely lightweight, high strength, non-metallic honeycomb manufactured with para-aramid fiber paper (DUPONT Kevlar N636 or equivalent). The para-aramid paper is impregnated with a heat resistant phenolic resin. This core material exhibits improved performance

characteristics over Nomex and Korex in the areas of weight, strengths, stiffness and fatigue.

Typical Kevlar Honeycomb Properties

Densit y Cell Size Compressio n Bare Strength PSI lb. / foot 2.5 3 3 4 4 4 inche s 1/8" 1/8" 3/16" 1/8" 3/16" 1/4" Typica l 225 315 330 600 500 550 Mi n 19 0 24 0 31 0 52 5 46 0 52 0 370 320 23.0 380 330 30.0 400 340 30.0 265 240 27.0 240 215 22.0 "L" Direction Strength PSI Typic al 190 Min . 175 Modulus KSI Typic al 15.5 Min . 14. 5 18. 0 22. 0 25. 0 24. 5 19. 5 190 125 10.0 200 150 13.7 220 200 14.0 12. 8 11. 0 8.8 160 120 11.5 9.0 155 140 11.0 9.0 "W" Direction Strength PSI Typic al 120 Min . 115 Modulus KSI Typic al 8.5 Min . 8.0 Plate Shear

** Preliminary Values

Reinforcements Carbon Fabrics

Strongest Commercial Grade Tension Reinforcing Fibers

Extremely high stiffness High tensile strength Excellent corrosion resistance Excellent fatigue properties Excellent compression properties Low coefficient of linear expansion: -1.1 x 106 cm/cmC (.0.6 x 10 6 in/inF) With a variety of modulus available from standard 33 msi to ultra high modulus pitch over 125 msi carbon fiber has the highest specific modulus of all the commercial reinforcing fibers. The strongest of all commercial reinforcing fibers in tension. Especially good for the tension skin on cored composite laminates. Used in reinforcing concrete, carbon has good alkaline resistance as well as resistance to salt water and many other chemical environments. Used as a primary reinforcement for fatigue prone products such as helicopter and wind turbine blades as well as off shore power and sailboats. Proper fiber sizing for the resin matrix selected can yield impressive compressive properties but this quality can be quite difficult to measure with standard ASTM test methods and careful test specimen preparation is critical to achieve accurate results. Carbon is a good tooling reinforcement for molds that will see temperature and where parts need tight dimensional stability.

Cautions with Carbon Fiber

Carbon is electrically conductive so isolation (usually with glass cloth) is critical when mounting electrical components. Metallic parts may corrode in salt water environments if improperly isolated. Carbon fiber dust (while grinding etc.) may short out electrical tools. Carbon fiber is not as good on sharp impacts as Glass (especially S-Glass) or Aramid fibers but properly engineered laminates (especially cored laminates) can utilize carbon very well for global impact loads such as slamming in power and off shore sail boats.

Aramid Hybrid Fiber Fabrics

Aramid Fiber Kevlar Twaron Hybrids
Aramid fibers properties make it suitable for many industries. It can be found in optical fiber, cables, ballistics (helmets, vests & armor), elastomer reinforcements (hoses, transmission belts & conveyer belts), tires, linear tension members (rope & Cable), Heat & Cut protection (boots, clothing, aprons, gloves & helmets) and our favorite Composites. Due to its low density, stiffness and high resistance to damage it is widely used in the marine and transportation industries to build lighter, stronger, stiffer and more durable parts. Aramid is ideal for hulls, in fact almost all of the boats in the Volvo Ocean Race use Aramid reinforcements. Many high performance power boats and high speed ferries also take advantage of weight savings and increased fatigue resistance of this high performance fiber. With todays increasing fuel costs and demand for increased speeds you can not debate that even recreational power and sail boats can benefit from the weight savings and increased strength using Aramid and Aramid/Fiberglass hybrids. You are also building in value by using a damage and fatigue resistant fiber that is sure to extend the usable life of you composite parts. Features Excellent Tensile Strength: 3620 MPa (525 ksi) Low Density: 1.44 gm/cm3 (.052 lb/in3) Benefits Hard to cut, hard to penetrate on impact. Excellent for parts that will take sharp impact loads such as canoes, off shore sail and power boats. The lowest weight of all major reinforcing fibers make this an excellent bulk builder in single skinned infused laminates where skin bulking and low laminate weight are a concern. Good Stiffness: 131 GPa (19 msi) Excellent Toughness Works well as a hybrid material For its low weight, aramid offers laminate bulk to improve thickness without a weight penalty as well as double the stiffness of E-glass. Aramid fiber will yield prior to breaking and is very difficult to fail even with sharp impact loads. Aramids are successfully combined with E and S-Glass as well as carbon fibers to enhance the laminate impact

and thickness properties at the lowest possible weight. Negative Coefficient of linear expansion: -4.3 x 106 (-2.4 x 106) Low Dielectric Constant: 4 at 1 MHz For high temperature applications this low CTE can provide very stable mountings for electrical components. Good radar transparency

Cautions with Aramid Fiber

Aramid fibers are difficult to cut and grind so installation is somewhat difficult. It is important to have the proper cutting and grinding tools to make this work easier. Builders typically use a glass cloth on the outside skin to make repair of paints etc. easier. Aramid fibers are lower in compression than Glass or Carbon. For this reason many builders choose hybrid materials to enhance the compression properties. Aramid fibers can pick up moisture very easily and must be properly impregnated and protected from water infusion. Aramid fibers are degradated by UV light and must be properly coated (painted). Aramid fibers are more difficult to properly impregnate and care must be taken to be sure that they are fully wet out. They tend to have lower adhesion than other fibers so good quality resins are recommended such as Vinyl Ester or Epoxy resins. Consult with Core Composites on proper tools, resins and techniques to take full advantage of this unique aramid fiber.

Fiberglass Fabrics
High-Strength Solutions to your Toughest Reinforcement Challenges
High-performance S Glass fibers offer a unique combination of properties: Strength, impact resistance, stiffness, temperature resistance, fatigue resistance and radar transparency. Compared with other reinforcing materials, S Glass fiber laminates weigh less than conventional E-glass fiber laminates and may deliver better cost performance than aramid or carbon. In addition, these yarns meet the requirements of MIL-Y-114OH specifications.