World's first: structural basalt fiber plates.
11-13-2014, 03:49 AM
#1
Thread Starter
World's first: structural basalt fiber plates.
Hello all.
Just a quick heads up on a new an very high tech product.
We are now offering structural basalt fiber plates to the market. No one else in the World has this product available.
Basalt fiber is a very interesting product. It is dark brown and very close to carbon fiber aesthetically wise. However it is completely non conductive, which makes it inert to any radio wave.
The fiber is extruded at 1400c/ 2250F from purified volcano rocks. It is extremely resilient to high temperatures and actually hardens from 15 to 1000c.
This fiber has been invented in the USA by a French chemist in the early 20s but got mostly adopted by the ex Eastern Union countries for military and aerospace project. Sukhoy is know for being a big consumer of such fibers.
The physical properties of this fiber are quite interesting. Its rigidity is higher than glass fiber and its shock resistance is higher than carbon fiber. The material is easy to machine and raw fabric easy to cut.
In many ways I consider this material as being half way between carbon fiber and kevlar fiber. It has most of the advantages of said fibers without their inconvenients.
Additionally, this material resists to very high temperatures. The plates are infused with a specific aero epoxy resin. The fabrics are laid up dry on the marble and the resin is sucked by vacuum, chasing absolutely all the air bubbles. The fabric is also optimally impregnated with this method with no resin excess. The plates are then post cured at 80 c/ 175 F for several hours.
They and have a plastic point of 250 c/ 480 F, and will keep their strength even in the hottest conditions. These plates will resist to 250c continuous and will not allow a 1000c torch to pass through.
We provide the material in plates of 1.15 mm or 0.35 mm thickness in different sizes.
Pricing is about half of carbon fiber.
http://www.ultimate-jets.net/collect...t-fiber-plates
Just a quick heads up on a new an very high tech product.
We are now offering structural basalt fiber plates to the market. No one else in the World has this product available.
Basalt fiber is a very interesting product. It is dark brown and very close to carbon fiber aesthetically wise. However it is completely non conductive, which makes it inert to any radio wave.
The fiber is extruded at 1400c/ 2250F from purified volcano rocks. It is extremely resilient to high temperatures and actually hardens from 15 to 1000c.
This fiber has been invented in the USA by a French chemist in the early 20s but got mostly adopted by the ex Eastern Union countries for military and aerospace project. Sukhoy is know for being a big consumer of such fibers.
The physical properties of this fiber are quite interesting. Its rigidity is higher than glass fiber and its shock resistance is higher than carbon fiber. The material is easy to machine and raw fabric easy to cut.
In many ways I consider this material as being half way between carbon fiber and kevlar fiber. It has most of the advantages of said fibers without their inconvenients.
Additionally, this material resists to very high temperatures. The plates are infused with a specific aero epoxy resin. The fabrics are laid up dry on the marble and the resin is sucked by vacuum, chasing absolutely all the air bubbles. The fabric is also optimally impregnated with this method with no resin excess. The plates are then post cured at 80 c/ 175 F for several hours.
They and have a plastic point of 250 c/ 480 F, and will keep their strength even in the hottest conditions. These plates will resist to 250c continuous and will not allow a 1000c torch to pass through.
We provide the material in plates of 1.15 mm or 0.35 mm thickness in different sizes.
Pricing is about half of carbon fiber.
http://www.ultimate-jets.net/collect...t-fiber-plates
Last edited by olnico; 11-13-2014 at 05:12 AM.
11-13-2014, 05:10 AM
#2
Thread Starter
Here is the video of the continuous heat test.
https://vimeo.com/111731069 The 0.35 mm plate is heated at 300c and left for 40 seconds. The resin starts to deteriorate but the plate keeps its resistance after cool down.
https://vimeo.com/111731069 The 0.35 mm plate is heated at 300c and left for 40 seconds. The resin starts to deteriorate but the plate keeps its resistance after cool down.
Last edited by olnico; 11-13-2014 at 06:00 AM.
11-13-2014, 05:19 AM
#3
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The heat resistance is given by the resin TG. That's the weak link of the chain...
The fiber heat resistance has nothing to do with it (talking about just raw fibers, fiberglass and carbonfiber are very heat resistant too).
The fiber heat resistance has nothing to do with it (talking about just raw fibers, fiberglass and carbonfiber are very heat resistant too).
11-13-2014, 06:02 AM
#4
Thread Starter
Here is the flame resistance at 1500c.
https://vimeo.com/111734346 The plate is heated to 1500c/ 2700F with a propane torch for 5 seconds. The resin burns at around half of this temperature. The fabric then heats up passed 1000c and glows red at 1500c. Once the burning is extinguished, the bare fabric is apparent. However because of the heating process, it has hardened and contained the flame for the whole time.
https://vimeo.com/111734346 The plate is heated to 1500c/ 2700F with a propane torch for 5 seconds. The resin burns at around half of this temperature. The fabric then heats up passed 1000c and glows red at 1500c. Once the burning is extinguished, the bare fabric is apparent. However because of the heating process, it has hardened and contained the flame for the whole time.
11-13-2014, 06:20 AM
#5
Thread Starter
In any case, for the plate video above, the heat conductivity index is important in that test. Basically, what happens here is that the fabric carries the heat away from the application point. Do the same test with glass fiber with the same resin and post curing process and the plate will melt almost instantly. In other words, the physical properties of the fiber will influence the themal resistance of the plate even though the resin TG is the limiting factor.
Glass fiber softens at around 800c. At this temperature, basalt actually hardens.
The test above made with a glass fiber plate of the same thickness ( 0.35 mm is paper thin ) sees the torch drilling through the materiel within less than a second.
Carbon fiber is a different story. They will have their melting characteristic greatly influenced by the manufacturing process. However carbon fibers designed for disc brakes melt at around 3500c. Carbon fibers manufacturing process involve lots of catalyzing steps and vary greatly from one process to the other. Basalt fiber manufacturing involves only the raw material and no added chemical.
Last edited by olnico; 11-13-2014 at 06:27 AM.
11-13-2014, 04:32 PM
#8
Thread Starter
11-14-2014, 12:54 AM
#13
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Location: farnborough, , UNITED KINGDOM
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Try these guys for basalt cloth, rovings etc in the US:
Sudaglass Fiber Technology, Inc.
14714 Perthshire, Suite A
Houston, TX 77079 USA
Tel: (001) 281.496.5427
Fax: (001) 281.496.4233
and
Sudaglass Fiber Technology, Inc.
PO Box 2478
37A Chipstead Valley Road
Coulsdon
Surrey CR5 2WE
UK
Tel: (44) 20 8763 9438
Fax: (44) 20 8660 6021
marcs
Sudaglass Fiber Technology, Inc.
14714 Perthshire, Suite A
Houston, TX 77079 USA
Tel: (001) 281.496.5427
Fax: (001) 281.496.4233
and
Sudaglass Fiber Technology, Inc.
PO Box 2478
37A Chipstead Valley Road
Coulsdon
Surrey CR5 2WE
UK
Tel: (44) 20 8763 9438
Fax: (44) 20 8660 6021
marcs
11-15-2014, 10:48 AM
#16
Thread Starter
Generally speaking, it is comparable to S glass in stiffness, to slightly higher but with better shock absorbing characteristics.
11-15-2014, 11:14 AM
#17
Thread Starter
I can cut the roll to any length in 50" width.
Price is 12.5 USD per yd in 6.5 oz/ sq.yd in 50" wide and 33 USD per yd in 18.5 oz/ sq.yd and 50" wide.
Our fabric is ballistic grade Martintek Basalt. We purchased 400 kgs of these rolls in 2012, just before the company was sold. I am not sure if this product exists any more.
Last edited by olnico; 11-15-2014 at 11:23 AM.
11-15-2014, 11:26 AM
#18
Thread Starter
Tensile strength is comparable to S2 glass. Elastic modulus about 20% higher than S2 glass ( stiffer ) and ballistic resistance ( v50 17-gn fsp ) 20% higher as well.
11-15-2014, 06:59 PM
#20
Thread Starter
Imagine a wing that moves without any flight controls. The boys from MIT are quite advanced on that study.
But you won't see me posting about this thing before years...
11-15-2014, 07:07 PM
#21
Thread Starter
Good question Roy.
The thin plate is very easy to cut with scissors. It can easily be used to create cosmetic carbon fiber like covers where one does not want to blank electrical signlas. Note howver that the waiving pattern on that fibric does not show as good as in carbon fiber. The other use of the thin plate is heat insulating box. They can be made within minutes and glued with Hysol E-20NS which is thick and heat resistance as well.
The thicker plate is really good to make control horns. given the price, you can make two horns on each side of the ball link. Given the shock proof characteristic, it can be used to make gear plates as well.
The thin plate is very easy to cut with scissors. It can easily be used to create cosmetic carbon fiber like covers where one does not want to blank electrical signlas. Note howver that the waiving pattern on that fibric does not show as good as in carbon fiber. The other use of the thin plate is heat insulating box. They can be made within minutes and glued with Hysol E-20NS which is thick and heat resistance as well.
The thicker plate is really good to make control horns. given the price, you can make two horns on each side of the ball link. Given the shock proof characteristic, it can be used to make gear plates as well.
11-15-2014, 07:36 PM
#23
Thread Starter
Except that the contractile part of the structure is made from kevlar UD ( same principle as a muscles where tendon are relatively stretch resistant ) and the compression resistant part is made from carbon UD fabrics.
Also these are absolutely not bio-compatible...
11-16-2014, 08:01 AM
#24
My Feedback: (24)
Having talked to the guy in Houston, Oli seems to have a very competitive price on the fabric.
if it's tougher than Sglass, and RF transparent with some heat resistant properties, it seems like a contender for fuselage shells, especially at the rear.
It apparently is being used as such for full size aviation?
if it's tougher than Sglass, and RF transparent with some heat resistant properties, it seems like a contender for fuselage shells, especially at the rear.
It apparently is being used as such for full size aviation?
11-17-2014, 01:42 AM
#25
Thread Starter
Having talked to the guy in Houston, Oli seems to have a very competitive price on the fabric.
if it's tougher than Sglass, and RF transparent with some heat resistant properties, it seems like a contender for fuselage shells, especially at the rear.
It apparently is being used as such for full size aviation?
if it's tougher than Sglass, and RF transparent with some heat resistant properties, it seems like a contender for fuselage shells, especially at the rear.
It apparently is being used as such for full size aviation?
Sukhoi is using that technology on the Su-27 and beyond for some of the hot parts of the planes.
