EC! Laminate Sample #11:
- Reinforcement: 400g Biotex Flax
- Resin: Proset INF-114/210
- Core: 6mm Amorim CoreCork N10
Panel weight: 4.12kg per square meter / 13.5 oz per square foot
Thickness 7.5mm / 0.4in
Overview:
Finally some bio-composites! I have wanted to try cork core for some time and finally got my hands on some courtesy of Core Composites in Bristol, RI, USA – some samples of Amorim CoreCork N10 and N20 in a few different thicknesses. The flax reinforcement is a product called Biotex Flax from Composites Evolution. It was purchased years ago from Easy Composites (UK) to make test panels for a job that never happened. I wished I had some bio-derived resin to try out here but had to make do with the same Proset INF-114 that I have used in many of the other samples. Best not to introduce too many variables once!
I am going to look into bio-derived resins and two that came up in discussions about this are from Entropy Resins and Sicomin. Let me know if you know of others I should try to test!
The flax didn’t seem as strong as a 400g e-glass would have been, but the core bonding was excellent and overall the panel behaved more uniformly in breaking than a fiberglass/foam panel would have. The cork has some “give” to it and the panel is probably much better able to bend and absorb energy without delaminating than many alternative combinations. For projects where the benefits of composites are mold-ability to complex geometry and toughness, rather than high strength or stiffness – this could be a great option.
Video:
Laminate Schedule:
Things to Improve:
The part infused slowly but completely, much to my surprise! Doing it again, I would drill holes in the cork the same as I have done with foam and balsa in other samples. Leaving the dry stack under the bag for longer would help too. I’d also try to avoid the spray adhesive on the first layer – it wiped off mostly with acetone, but there were some nasty surface marks when it was first demolded.
I’m not sure what happened with the Fibertex Compoflex hybrid peel ply/flow media. I have used it before and it works great and usually peels right off. This was cut off an old sample roll that may have been contaminated – or maybe I did something wrong. Will look into this more in the future because it is a good product to know about.