By fgayford - 11/17/2014 1:03:48 PM
I have a question about aluminum honey comb use. I looked on the website store at Aluminum Honey comb. Does it conform easily to rounded shapes? I know that Nomex honeycomb does not unless you get the expanded cells in one direction. For an example. Could I bond it down to a basket ball half shape with vacuum bag pressure. I am guessing you can form aluminum honey comb around this shape by hand and pull it down the rest of the way with a vacuum bag pressure while the adhesive cures. Maybe I am wrong. I have been using a Loctite Hysol EA-9430 adhesive to bond Nomex honeycomb, is this a good product for aluminum honey comb or is there a better room temperature cure product out there. They use it on Sail Planes. The reason I want to use aluminum honey comb is for energy absorption in case of a heavy impact, like F1 race cars. Is that the best properties of aluminum honey comb over others like carbon or Nomex? |
By Dravis - 11/18/2014 10:42:58 AM
The few pieces I have done in alu honeycomb so far have been done with the smallest cell version from EC, cut down to 3 and 5 mm thickness.
They are bonded with the EC Permabond stuff for Alu honeycomb.
This thin alu honeycomb cornforms very easily to compound curves. The nomex stuff less so.
Compared to test pieces in nomex honeycomb, the Nomex is slightly heavier, and does not permanently distort as easily as the alu.
On the alu version of the test-panel an 80 kg/ sq cm pressure test left a permanent 1 mm deformation, but the Nomex version using ordinary laminating resin as bonding did not permanently deform at the same pressure.
When the alu-honeycomb version failed it cracked completely, and at what seemed like a lower impact level.
I would think that in an impact scenario the Nomex wins... but you can make the alu versin thicker for the same weight and that will make it stiffer.
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