EC! Laminate Sample #14:
- Reinforcement: 200g Carbon Pre-preg Unidirectional
- Resin: Gurit SE84LV / 200g SA80 Glue Film
- Core: 10mm 48kg Aluminum Honeycomb
Panel weight: 2.87kg per square meter / 9.38 oz per square foot
Thickness 11.1mm / 0.437″
Overview:
This sample is similar to #2 – pre-preg skins with honeycomb core. This time the core is aluminum honeycomb instead of Nomex. Aluminum core has slightly better mechanical properties and it fails in a more crushy bendy – less crunchy way than Nomex. You know, I try to use the technical terminology!
This panel is all unidirectional carbon – so on each face, all the fiber is pointing in one direction. This is stronger than a woven but much less damage-tolerant. You can see me pull a strip of uni off just by pulling the peel ply. Usually it is worth using a strip of woven material anywhere edges are cut or holes are drilled – unless you plan to laminate a secondary bonding feature or a “closeout” laminate to cap the edge of cored areas.
I didn’t do anything to vent the core cells here – it is a small panel and the skins are relatively light. For heavier or thicker skins, it is a good idea to perforate the top skin so air and moisture (more of an issue with Nomex or other resin/paper honeycombs that absorb water) can escape the cells without pushing the skins off the core.
Video:
Laminate Schedule:
Things to Improve:
Don’t pull off the carbon with he peel-ply! Don’t use crispy out of date pre-preg peel ply. Be neater. Don’t play with the core off-cuts so much?