I am so grateful for easy composites. About to place a close to a thousand dollar order after having spent the last two years watching the majority of their youtube catalog and experimenting with vacuum bagging wooden skateboard layups. I am excited to receive my carbon fiber cloth, infusion materials, and more at a cost that including VAT and shipping is less than my local suppliers in California while supporting the company that gave me the confidence to evolve my product prototyping skills to include composites.
Yes is is, he's also a keen composites enthusiast and a long standing customer so it was great to do something with him. He's producing a fascinating series on the restoration of 'Allan', the lifeboat, that he's been doing through lock-down (which I'm sure you're following on 'alex hibbert originals').
@@chaseweeks2708 hell yeah good luck when you get there. "Santa" got me a one wheel so I'm going to make a fender. After watching this episode I'm learning toward that diolen cloth. It's actually really affordable.
I can't stop watching these very educational videos on composites. Help for beginners with well laid out formats and directs you to their products. UA-cam PERFECTION!
Really enjoyed this breakdown! My father was a composites specialist for various manufacturers in 80s rallying/90s touring cars. His choice of material would entirely depend on its location within the car. A reinforced carbon-kevlar composite was preferred in rallying for the whole external bodywork to account for both weight-saving and durability. Incredibly expensive to build (and rebuild) in large quantities but manufacturers were sparing no expense back then! In touring cars all the composite work was interior since only materials used on the production models were permitted for external bodywork. Impact damage was less of a concern for door cards, instrument panels, flooring etc. so carbon fibre would be used exclusively.
That's some great insight you have there! Getting the correct material for each specific location can be tricky especially when there are so many options, it is very important to consider the exact requirements and parameters and what is the most important to prioritise for each particular component. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
One of the most informative if not the most informative channels on youtube! No long talking, straight into the testing and results. I really love this channel!
Please, All the *this*! All the youtube of this right here. Solid qualitative results plus with reasonable methodology equals an approachable and informative video for us real world problem solvers. Keep it up! I'll be looking at you guys when it comes time to buy.
Thank you very much Ryan, your feedback is appreciate. We’re problem solvers too, less theory, more ‘what will make a different *today*’. Look forward to working with you.
Like I said before... You are doing a great job with all this information. I am an automotive technician and also a construction worker for many years. I see the need for this materials in both fields. You have just answered the question I had in my mind about resistance to impact of carbon fiber. Thanks
BOB - Yes! In my younger days, I had multiple Fabrics Bonded together, for just this idea! Then I had S-Glass, Kevlar, & Carbon Fibre, to work with, but only small samples, and no testing gear!
afaik it isn't very interesting to mix multiple composite because they don't flex/break the same way : because it almost doesn't flex the carbon will take all the load and break first then all the load will be on the others layers and again the stiffer remaining material break first One way it could be beneficial is on multiple features of the same piece where the stress is different
6:10 Yes you see carbon fibre in the crash structures but these are designed to break - the total oposite of what we are trying to do here. They work by inducing as many cracks as posible in order to absorb as much energy as possible. They are one use only. Also here you can see barely no visible damage but if you would look at delaminations, you would see a total different pictuere. If you would load it afterwards, it wouldn't be able to carry nearly as much load.
As someone who is VERY interested in the fast lightweight vehicles, I love this video and would love more that delve into predicting strength and selecting materials and techniques to meet those strength requirements.
I love your vids. This kind of info is difficult to come by. Whether it is the materials properties explained, or the build techniques you so kindly give to the DIY world.
This video should be on your shops learning section! I was just looking for exactly this video there and was about to comment somewhere that you should make one, but here it is :D Man great channel!
Thank you for making all these videos, I learn so much from all of them and my composite projects have gotten so much better since I've started watching your videos!
I'm glad to see the friction testing after sanding. I would have thought that this would be a big concern for the sled. The runners or other gliding surfaces may become abraded after several tens of miles of hauling, and testing the friction results of pristine surfaces may not reflect changes with use.
Yes, that’s what we thought too, although, as mentioned in the video, the Dark Ice team said that generally the underside of the sledges come back almost as new.
If you avoid rock/grit, the gelcoats usually end up with almost no abrasion over ice and snow. I have a sledge that's done over 1500miles, and has a perfect 'as new' gloss surface still. Oddly, here we found the sanded graphite-filled resin was lower in friction, so an improvement compared to unsanded/glossy, filled epoxy.
We've used Innegra before, but if I remember right, ours was white. To cut the dry cloth we had to tape both sides and use a cut off wheel on a die grinder to cut it. We couldn't cut it with scissors. It's what they're using as the tether material for Indycars to tether the wheels, nose, etc to the tubs.
I was hoping to find videos of your RC boats on your channel. No such luck. I think it would be a lot of fun to see your boats. I agree with you about these videos. They're great.
Great video, and very useful for what I'm doing. I need to construct a battery box for a sprint kart with 420 18650 cells. Impact strength and structural strength are key, along with light weight. Kevlar looks like the best choice of these, and is much superior in terms of weight compared to thin welded aluminum plate, plus it's almost non-conductive.
Very interesting test comparisons. It would be great to see the failure chart done with strength to weight instead of just purely strength. It would really give you an idea of the true difference between the products because weight is very often a big consideration for any laminate. Love the videos though, keep up the good work!
UHMWPE will require mechanical fixing to the sled, It is very hard to get adhesion to UHMWPE in surfaces that flex. If you wanted to attach a sheet of it to the sled I would recommend milling fine dovetail grooves at a 50% material fill rate or impregnating a stainless exposed mesh to act a a "keying" material. If it was something rigid than Loctite and other corporations offer primers for low energy plastics but in practice the suffer from adhesive release in high impact or inconstant surface stretching situations. Silicon spray or CRC 2-26 are both great Hydrophobic lubricants and coatings that flex and won't damage Most** plastics. WD40 and CRC5-56 will yellow and damage plastics but will temporarily act as a good hydrophobic coating but is still not recommended.
Alpine Skiers have highly molecular Graphite sintered contact surface to the snow. The contact surface get an structured surface finish. The same when you apply wax on it. You brush the wax to reintroduce the structured surface. Structuring reduces adhesion and friction. Well on the slides for the expedition you will have the gelcoat, and you won't do waxing, but better think about microstructured surface. Furthermore there is electrostatic charging and the resulting brake effect. The Graphite in the contact surface of an Alpine Ski is most important here. There was the Blizzard V20 RS (Giant Slalom). Originally highly oversaturated with graphite. The FIS requested Blizzard to reduce the amount of Graphite even in the serial production Ski. I still have one pair before the Change of the recipe. This Ski is infernal fast. My proposal would be to experiment with gelcoat which is saturated with Graphite and get an structured finish. A company which could be on your wavelenght regarding Innovation and Challenge is e.g. Völkl / Voelkl (Straubing, Germany). Maybe they have an idea how to structure a gelcoat. They've invented the Speedwall(s), which is(are) the Sidewall(s) of the Ski. This Speedwall is structured as well and gets waxed as Well. Just think about this Speedwall in gelcoat. That could be a explanation, which the Völkl / Voelkl Experts understand. Would be Teflon /PTFE too soft for the Skids?
Thanks for the considered input here, and it's something @easycomposites and I have discussed prototyping in future, but where there's time to test/break and not on a critical expedition. The impact resilience of PTFE meant it was discounted.
The first thing I'd do is ask what the ski and snowboard builders use for the bearing surface and do that, including the waxing process directly before use. That's not a new technology, and if you wanted to make sure your resin bonds well to it, just test a piece. The difference between skiing on wax thats seen just a few days of use is noticeable when you rewax them, it's way more slippery.
This video clearly shows how carbon fiber is stiff, yet brittle, whereas aramid is relatively stiff, yet refuses to give up after the top/bottom plies fail! I've been trying to describe these properties in words for years. Now I can easily share this video! What has Easy Composites seen regarding the strength and failure mode of hybrid fabrics like carbon fiber weft and aramid warp 2x2 twill cloth?
Thanks for your comment. Typically a hybrid carbon kevlar weave will combine both properties. Slightly less stiff, but more resilient than a pure carbon panel and vice versa when compared to pure carbon. You would normally find that the kevlar is introduced in both the warp and the weft to transfer these properties to the material when stressed in both axis. Our 2x2 twill for instance is made with alternating tows in both directions. It would be a very specific case where you only had the benefits of one material in a particular axis.
What did you have in mind for bonding the UHMW film? Ive used scotchweld DP-8005 with great success for bonding 3d printed brackets to pelican cases (polypropylene blend) but thats not exactly a laminating resin. IIRC it has a rather potent chemical that was a cross linker to allow it to cross link the acrylic adhesive base to typically chemical resistant plastics (UMHWPE, POM, PE, PP, PTFE, etc) but it was also good at cross-linking DNA and being carcinogenic, so I would actually make sure to use it in a fume hood, be mindful of gloves, rather than the more casual way that something like JB weld may get used.
That's a very professional material comparison. I hope you make a comparison for a hangglider, too. I really wonder what would be the lightest options for a Klingberg mk2. Also, if there is a signifant difference between high pressure carbon fiber vs laminated vs braided(?)
Hi Hanes, that might be a bit too specific for a general audience but we’ll try to keep providing more general guidance that would be applicable to projects like a hang glider.
Hi Rohan, yes, we’ll do this. The next video is a very in-depth infusion guide, it’s not split so won’t cover what you’re after, but certainly will have a lot of useful information for you.
Great video! Nice testing and well explained! Was just a bit disappointed not seeing the carbon/Kevlar hybrid in the testing as I assume it is designed to solve the problem of having to chose between Kevlar or carbon for stiffness or impact! Keep up the good work, can't wait for the next video 👌
Hi Matt, thanks for your comments. Maybe we should have included carbon/Kevlar but we had to decide to stop somewhere. There were lots of other fibres we could have tested (PBO, UMHMPE etc.) and then there are hybrids of all of these fibres. We could probably have tested 20 laminates and still missed some obvious combinations. To address carbon/Kevlar specifically, although it might seem an obvious choice, the problem with a hybrid like this, for this application, is the failure mode: because Kevlar offers less stiffness and has a higher elongation than the carbon, in the event of a heavy impact on a carbon/Kevlar hybrid the Kevlar can (potentially) elongate past the maximum strain of the carbon, the carbon will break, leaving the Kevlar holding things together but possibly doing only that, holding it together. If you had another 2 months to drag a compromised sledge across the ice, you'd probably wish you'd made it all out of Kevlar.
I've learned more through this company than any videos I've watched from U.S. based companies..Extemely informative.....Now, the question is, what combination of these materials will give you the best strength to weight ratio in all areas....I'm thinking a layer of carbon as outer for initial impact strength, then a layer of kevlar, and finish with 2 layers of diolen....let the carbon takes the initial hit, the kevlar backing that up and then the diolen as a method of extending the overall strenth with some flexibility should the carbon and kevlar completely fail on impact....oh, the ideas that come to mind...I bet it would be great fun making and testing various combinations of these materials...as well as educational...OR, maybe diolen exterior layers, 2, then kevlar, then carbon....hmmm...ideas....
It entirely depends on the design of the part, there is no set answer. You would ideally need to do comparative structural calculations or testing to sort the best combination.
@@easycompositestv Couldn't agree more...I think it would be enjoyable, along with educational, to do a lot of various testing combinations for various applications...
I wonder if you should test molybdenum disulfide and/or teflon? Is it even comparable with gell coat? I have heard of using teflon filled epoxy as an anti adhesive surface. It is just about impossible to repair though, and I have always wondered about the moly...
Another issue with carbon is that is highly thermally conductive. The epoxy resin will lessen this quite a bit, but one of the things that can happen with carbon is that as the water is melting on the surface from friction, it may start to refreeze faster increasing friction. On the other hand, kevlar, polyester, and polypropylene are much less thermally conductive and would insulate the sled from the above better. But with the epoxy resin, there probably isn't that much of a difference between all of them in this regard since the resin can make up a good percentage of the overall material, and epoxy resin is much more similar to kevlar, polyester, and PP in that regard (since these are all essentially plastics).
The layer of epoxy and the prolonged time in the cold environment for the sleds themselves mean they will likely be close to the ambient temperature for most of the in service usage so the material differences is not such a big issue.
This is great info as I am making parts for sports cars and needed to know what material would have the best resistence to impact - primarily rocks thrown up by the tires into the fender well. Currently the cars have ABS, but when it gets cold it fractures. Having a combination of materials would probably be the best and I've settled on carbon/kevlar for the wheel side and carbon fiber for the engine side. Thanks for the series - I'm looking forward to the next one to see how you lay up the sledge.
The graphite can't possibly lower the friction when it's enclosed by the resin. Lubrication with graphite works through the individual graphite molecule layers sliding against each other, but that's not possible if all of it is encased in resin. Also the graphite particles will lead to a higher roughness of the surface just because of their shape, that's why friction decreased after sanding.
Hi Joel, that's all *fairly* logical. We weren't really expecting graphite to reduce friction in a low-to-no abrasion situation, this was more a case of addressing the fact that some sledge manufacturers do do this and so we wanted to work it through. There is a bit of a contradiction in your comment though, you describe that in the virgin component the graphite is fully encased in resin (which is true) but then suggest that the roughness of the graphite particles on the surface is the cause for the increased friction. I can assure you that because the resin full encases the graphite particles, there is no roughness from them and that abrading the surface certainly increases its roughness, not reduces it. And yet, the friction is significantly reduced in the example with graphite, compared to the sample without graphite which has had identical surface treatment. This seems to be something you overlook in your comment.
I'm reviewing here and I'll venture that wet sanded and buffed graphite infused resin would be slickest in both categories. Of course kevlar is often used as an outside layer because it's unbeatable against grinding friction. Incredibly difficult to wear through a kevlar splitter where a carbon one will disappear with every passing contact. A kevlar outer layer, followed by a few layers of innegra, and stiffened on the inside with carbon is the best multicomposite mix. If you have a human on the inside, layers of kevlar prevent carbon fiber intrusion in your soft parts. High end carbon aircraft line the cockpit with kevlar for that reason. In the multi layer I described previously, the layers of innegra diffuse the impact over a larger area. Material combinations absolutely work and are frequently used in aerospace.
I was also thinking about mixing these materials but not just multilayered; what about using a different material threads in a weave or mixing the materials fibers one process up when being spun into a thread
@@easycompositestv you are the best, i almost learned all i know about composite with your toturials and matthieu libert page, your page gave me enough confidence to make parts myself and i never can thank you enough for it, you and matthieu
From what I remember in my days as Air Frames Mechanic in the Navy you could get better bend strength of the composite structure, with the correct choice of the resin matrix that has a good bending strength at lower temperatures. The longer the resin matrix maintains adhesion with fiber layers the better bend strength.
Mr. Patrick, I have a doubt... For having better bending strength, u have to layup fiber in that direction, but how bending strength is dependent on resin system.
@@nishithkishore9841 the resin is the stiffening and binding agent. Without it there is no rigidity. There are two failure modes for a composite structure, one is failure if the fiber, second is failure of resin to hold the fibers in the matrix.
@@patrickradcliffe3837 ...Sir, can you share your email ID , I want detailed discussion on it. I am struggling with a component to increase its bending strength.
Excellent! I don't want to sound greedy, but I would sure like to see more about engineering propeties of composites. Maybe even principles for controlling directional strength and flexibility? I'm trying to combine light weight and flexibility, with localized rigidity. I've taught myself a couple tricks so far, but I know there is a lot I don't know!
You guys need to try a test with Innegra mixed with carbon. I’ve been told by Innegra that it is best to mix it with other reinforcements as it is not that good by itself.
Hi Alexander, well, yes, there's certainly some truth in that but it depends what you want to achieve. If you wanted maximum damage tolerance then you wouldn't combine the Innegra with anything else, if you wanted to add some stiffness then combining with a higher modulus material (like glass or carbon) can make sense. The problem with a hybrid like this, for this application, is the failure mode: the Innegra offers little stiffness and has a high elongation. In the event of a heavy impact on a carbon/Innegra hybrid the Innegra will offer little tensile strength, putting all the work onto the carbon, the carbon will break, leaving the Innegra holding things together but most probably doing only that, holding it together. If you had another 2 months to drag a broken sledge across the ice, you might not thank us!
Hello, thx for all the different videos, can you please make a video about all different kind of release agents and how to apply them on glassy or normal surface to be as smooth as possible and without haziness?or how mant layer needed .?? etc .... I think it's nice subject for a video
Hi Slim, thanks for the suggestion. Yes, that would make quite a useful video. Not likely to be a million-viewer but certainly of interest to those actually working with composite materials. We'll keep it in mind.
@@easycompositestv thanks for taking into consideration my proposal, it might not get 1M views but who knows since there's no video speaking about the subject in detail, you might be suprised. and Since there a lot of types of releases so you can cover a lot of topics (which purpose for each release agent?, how to apply? which one to choose for each case?) etc ... it will definitly be a good learning material for beginners and people with intermediate level.
When comparing the various material samples it would have been wonderful if you had included a simple fiberglass sample as well, as most of us are familiar with fiberglass and could better use that to gauge how these other materials compare to the most common composite that we run into. Maybe next time.
The video wasn't about general property comparison but specific to this individual project hence the fibreglass was ruled out very early on. It is possible in the future we may do a general materials comparison video.
@@easycompositestv Understood. It was just such a GOOD video but I thought it could be made more relatable by inclusion of a fiberglass sample as the "baseline" instead of carbon as the baseline. Looking forward to a video on materials in a more general sense to help us newbies pick a good material for our projects. Keep up the great work!
Some company has a hybrid fabric weaving innegra with basalt fibers. Basalt fibers have about the same strength as e-glass. But the combination of the two seems to provide the durability of the innegra with strength of fiberglass. It would be very interesting to see you two destructive tests done on that material.
Hi Dimitri, thanks for the comment. Indeed there are hundreds of different 'hybrid' fabrics which combine properties of different fibre types, unfortunately it would go on almost forever if we'd tested all of these materials! Basalt/Innegra could be interesting, as would basalt/glass. Maybe we'll do a video all about hybrid fabrics in the future which would allow us to dive deeper into those type of reinforcements in paricular.
I'd love to see more guidance on choosing material for various types of projects. For example this video doesn't include fibreglass, and while it might have been a priori not the right choice for this, it is my understanding that being inexpensive is not its only advantage, it also has distinct durability advantages in some uses. It is obviously comparatively dense, but sometimes the weight disadvantage doesn't matter and envelope is more important.
You're right that fibreglass can have advantages over carbon fibre in some key areas, it's much better at not blocking RF signals for instance in use with model planes etc. We do want to cover more videos with material choice in mind, one of the issues are keeping it relevant. A guide covering every material choice for every possible application would be very long indeed.
You only look at IN2 infusion resin here. Do you think there are meaningful differences between the various resins you sell when it comes to impact toughness at low temperatures?
In basically the same way John. You could use a woven UHMWPE cloth in place of some or all of the Kevlar. The properties would be slightly different and it's often best to use UHMWPE in conjunction with other types of reinforcement.
Just seen a video from a company developing a new eco friendly delivery vehicle and they were using flax composite.. Remembered watching this video, so I thought I'd come back and ask if you have or would do a comparison update with that, see how viable it is...
That's not really technology we considered for this project Nathan, or have any experience of so I can't comment I'm afraid. With this being a real-life project with a timescale and a budget we have to draw the line somewhere.
Hi Michael, yes, absolutely, these would be an option. Our gut on this project is that we have sufficient stiffness in the Kevlar without compromising the impact strength by hybridising with carbon. Carbon/kevlar hybrids tend to provide good 'limp-home' failure modes which is why you'll see Kevlar required in vehicle panel laminates for some race series (the smashed door doesn't scatter across the race track) but may well be quite compromised for - for example - continuing to drag across the ice for another month or so. Nonetheless, hybrids and their strengths and weaknesses (no pun intended) would be well worth considering and could be an entire topic on their own - maybe the subject of a future video.
@@easycompositestv that would be awesome to see, thanks. The canoe/kayak community often uses carbon/Kevlar hybrids for those reasons as we need to be able to bump into rocks and trees, but keep on paddling. I have two canoes being laid up right now in a hybrid so I am particularly interested in what you might have to say
Very interesting. Much of this applies to canoes as well. I would love to learn more about how combining layers would impact weight and strength of a 16 foot prospector canoe. The work horse of the north.
would be interesting to see the yield results on those materials based on similar density rather than similar thickness to take advantage of their properties
Great video ! I'm wondering what would be the outcome of the impact test if the constraint is to keep the integrity of the structure behind the laminate. My use case is a carbon sandwich sailboat bow with a sacrificial shield to protect from log strikes). Deflection become a more important factor which may place the carbon back on top of the leaderboard.
You would probably want some kind of foam between the two surfaces so that the foam absorbs the deflection of the outer layer to prevent excess energy being transmitted into the structure behind.
Just make the sleds and then bolt on the UHML runners. I understand they fear delamination but if they are bolted on like how cheap sleds do it I don’t think they’d have an issue. The bolt hole added friction would need to be worth the reduced friction though.
The strip runners will be UHMWPE, but we debated the 'skinning' idea at length. We opted to avoid it for such a major expedition, as it would rely on an adhesive - which might be fine, but we needed definitely fine. I've tried mechanical fixing of very thin 1mm UHMWPE before, and it loves to flex and wave, losing its shape.
Very nice tests. And here's the But... What about hybrid composites? Layering the white fibers with keflar in the center? Don't know how many layers were used but putting about a third of them as Keflar in the middle of the stack would make for an interesting test I would think. And on a side note, testing impact with the outercoat applied would be important to. To see how the coat gets damaged in the process and what that would do for the friction with the ice and snow.
The tests shown were designed specifically for the sledge and its expected use so we have had to limit the scope of what was tested and shown. But yes there could be a lot of different combinations tested that might have different results.
Hi Damon, yes, indeed, waxing PTEX (as found on skis and snowboards) used for the runners on the sledge would reduce friction so I guess the team probably do do that on the runners but potentially could do it on the belly too.
It is interesting to see tests of the carbon-kevlar joint weave. From your website - 210g 2x2 Twill 3k Carbon Kevlar Cloth (1200mm) and 188g Plain Weave 3k Carbon Kevlar Cloth (1000mm).
Hi, yes, given lots of other comments too we probably should have included carbon/kevlar hybrids. But then we'd probably need to include carbon/Innegra too!
Damn this channel really just taught me more about material science in 15min than a semester-long ME class
That's weird isn't it?
I am so grateful for easy composites. About to place a close to a thousand dollar order after having spent the last two years watching the majority of their youtube catalog and experimenting with vacuum bagging wooden skateboard layups. I am excited to receive my carbon fiber cloth, infusion materials, and more at a cost that including VAT and shipping is less than my local suppliers in California while supporting the company that gave me the confidence to evolve my product prototyping skills to include composites.
Glad we are able to help at a decent cost even as far as the USA away from us.
This is like the very best Open University programs from the 1980’s. I love it!!😃
Alex Hibbert has 40,700 subscribers. I am one of them. That being said thank you for supporting him. He seems like a solid chap.
Yes is is, he's also a keen composites enthusiast and a long standing customer so it was great to do something with him. He's producing a fascinating series on the restoration of 'Allan', the lifeboat, that he's been doing through lock-down (which I'm sure you're following on 'alex hibbert originals').
This is an amazing channel. Thank you for the information. I've decided to start my own carbon fiber project thanks to you. Cheers
Right there with you. Once I finally get space to do it, fenders and hood will be my eventual goal.
@@chaseweeks2708 hell yeah good luck when you get there. "Santa" got me a one wheel so I'm going to make a fender. After watching this episode I'm learning toward that diolen cloth. It's actually really affordable.
Fabulous to hear folks, good luck with your ventures/projects!
I can't stop watching these very educational videos on composites. Help for beginners with well laid out formats and directs you to their products. UA-cam PERFECTION!
Well said!
Thank you, that’s great to hear.
Really enjoyed this breakdown! My father was a composites specialist for various manufacturers in 80s rallying/90s touring cars.
His choice of material would entirely depend on its location within the car. A reinforced carbon-kevlar composite was preferred in rallying for the whole external bodywork to account for both weight-saving and durability. Incredibly expensive to build (and rebuild) in large quantities but manufacturers were sparing no expense back then!
In touring cars all the composite work was interior since only materials used on the production models were permitted for external bodywork. Impact damage was less of a concern for door cards, instrument panels, flooring etc. so carbon fibre would be used exclusively.
That's some great insight you have there! Getting the correct material for each specific location can be tricky especially when there are so many options, it is very important to consider the exact requirements and parameters and what is the most important to prioritise for each particular component. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
The level of particularity is from another world on this channel.
One of the most informative if not the most informative channels on youtube! No long talking, straight into the testing and results.
I really love this channel!
Appreciate the really kind feedback, it's comments like this why we keep uploading videos!
Paul is, hands down, THE BEST composites instructor EVA!
Thanks Thomas!
Please, All the *this*! All the youtube of this right here. Solid qualitative results plus with reasonable methodology equals an approachable and informative video for us real world problem solvers. Keep it up! I'll be looking at you guys when it comes time to buy.
Thank you very much Ryan, your feedback is appreciate. We’re problem solvers too, less theory, more ‘what will make a different *today*’. Look forward to working with you.
Like I said before... You are doing a great job with all this information. I am an automotive technician and also a construction worker for many years. I see the need for this materials in both fields. You have just answered the question I had in my mind about resistance to impact of carbon fiber. Thanks
You're most welcome, glad you're finding this information helpful.
What would be interesting is a sandwich of Kevlar core with Diolen outer to see if the advantages of both combine in a superior way.
BOB - Yes! In my younger days, I had multiple Fabrics Bonded together, for just this idea! Then I had S-Glass, Kevlar, & Carbon Fibre, to work with, but only small samples, and no testing gear!
Was about to type the exact thing.
I was thinking the same thing. I’m sure a mix of 3 or 4 of the materials would be a good combo..
Yep, compositing the composites! I was thinking the same.
afaik it isn't very interesting to mix multiple composite because they don't flex/break the same way :
because it almost doesn't flex the carbon will take all the load and break first
then all the load will be on the others layers and again the stiffer remaining material break first
One way it could be beneficial is on multiple features of the same piece where the stress is different
This is really good engineering. Good job.
Nice clean short explanation of why to choose various materials.
Glad you enjoyed Iain!
6:10 Yes you see carbon fibre in the crash structures but these are designed to break - the total oposite of what we are trying to do here. They work by inducing as many cracks as posible in order to absorb as much energy as possible. They are one use only. Also here you can see barely no visible damage but if you would look at delaminations, you would see a total different pictuere. If you would load it afterwards, it wouldn't be able to carry nearly as much load.
As someone who is VERY interested in the fast lightweight vehicles, I love this video and would love more that delve into predicting strength and selecting materials and techniques to meet those strength requirements.
Thanks Austin, we'll certainly do more on material selection in the future.
@@easycompositestv thank you! I will be looking forward to it!
This is new favorite channel. Thanks for making this content! Very well done
I love the clarity and use of actual strength test in this video. Very nice method and explaination of your reasoning. J
Thank you Jay!
This video showed me sooo much 😅 what I would like to have seen is a test of a carbon/Kevlar mix fabric, good work 😀 thanks, i learnt a lot
I love your vids. This kind of info is difficult to come by. Whether it is the materials properties explained, or the build techniques you so kindly give to the DIY world.
I just discovered your videos and they're some of the best out there even if I don't fully understand all of it! Love it! Thank you!
Appreciate the kind feedback! We'll have more videos up soon :)
We need a video comparing different layering techniques, or combinations of different fibres.
you folks are amazing! inspiring high-end work as always.
Thank you guys, back at you!
This video should be on your shops learning section! I was just looking for exactly this video there and was about to comment somewhere that you should make one, but here it is :D
Man great channel!
Hi, thanks for your comment, glad you enjoyed the video! All of our videos can be found on our website here; www.easycomposites.co.uk/learning.
@@easycompositestv Oh, thats where I looked, but it seems like I was just blind. Sorry^^
This is more intriguing channel here to seen those existing materiale inventory that I've never been found wayback more than 20 years ago
Thank you for making all these videos, I learn so much from all of them and my composite projects have gotten so much better since I've started watching your videos!
Thanks Delinlo, that's great to hear.
I'm glad to see the friction testing after sanding. I would have thought that this would be a big concern for the sled. The runners or other gliding surfaces may become abraded after several tens of miles of hauling, and testing the friction results of pristine surfaces may not reflect changes with use.
Yes, that’s what we thought too, although, as mentioned in the video, the Dark Ice team said that generally the underside of the sledges come back almost as new.
If you avoid rock/grit, the gelcoats usually end up with almost no abrasion over ice and snow. I have a sledge that's done over 1500miles, and has a perfect 'as new' gloss surface still. Oddly, here we found the sanded graphite-filled resin was lower in friction, so an improvement compared to unsanded/glossy, filled epoxy.
@@AH-ns2wh Darn, no videos of your sledge on your channel. I think it would be fun to see your sledge.
@@ddegn Aha! It's heading out onto the ice this winter. Stay tuned.
We've used Innegra before, but if I remember right, ours was white. To cut the dry cloth we had to tape both sides and use a cut off wheel on a die grinder to cut it. We couldn't cut it with scissors. It's what they're using as the tether material for Indycars to tether the wheels, nose, etc to the tubs.
innegra and aramid based fabrics will cut with dedicated aramid shears
That was a really interesting and clear video, thanks! As a RC boat fanatic, I find these video's a veritable gold mine of information!
Thanks Remko, glad you enjoyed it!
@@easycompositestv I'm already looking forward to the next video.... :)
I was hoping to find videos of your RC boats on your channel. No such luck.
I think it would be a lot of fun to see your boats.
I agree with you about these videos. They're great.
I would like to see which results a combination of a flexible structure (Innegra/Diolen) and a high load structure (Kevlar/carbon) compares.
It's alive! Lovely channel!
Really outstanding job explaining the application, what you are testing for, explaining results - very clear!
Thank you, appreciated.
Best videos in the webs!
You have taught me so much over the years.
Thank you.
🇦🇺🤜🏼🤛🏼😎🍀🍀🍀
Thank you for the feedback Steve, good to hear from you.
Great video, and very useful for what I'm doing. I need to construct a battery box for a sprint kart with 420 18650 cells. Impact strength and structural strength are key, along with light weight. Kevlar looks like the best choice of these, and is much superior in terms of weight compared to thin welded aluminum plate, plus it's almost non-conductive.
Very interesting test comparisons. It would be great to see the failure chart done with strength to weight instead of just purely strength. It would really give you an idea of the true difference between the products because weight is very often a big consideration for any laminate.
Love the videos though, keep up the good work!
Great suggestion!
UHMWPE will require mechanical fixing to the sled, It is very hard to get adhesion to UHMWPE in surfaces that flex. If you wanted to attach a sheet of it to the sled I would recommend milling fine dovetail grooves at a 50% material fill rate or impregnating a stainless exposed mesh to act a a "keying" material.
If it was something rigid than Loctite and other corporations offer primers for low energy plastics but in practice the suffer from adhesive release in high impact or inconstant surface stretching situations.
Silicon spray or CRC 2-26 are both great Hydrophobic lubricants and coatings that flex and won't damage Most** plastics.
WD40 and CRC5-56 will yellow and damage plastics but will temporarily act as a good hydrophobic coating but is still not recommended.
Any worries with silicone spray contamination of the shop/paint booth/molds?
Awesome video and great info within. Kudos.
Alpine Skiers have highly molecular Graphite sintered contact surface to the snow. The contact surface get an structured surface finish. The same when you apply wax on it. You brush the wax to reintroduce the structured surface.
Structuring reduces adhesion and friction.
Well on the slides for the expedition you will have the gelcoat, and you won't do waxing, but better think about microstructured surface.
Furthermore there is electrostatic charging and the resulting brake effect.
The Graphite in the contact surface of an Alpine Ski is most important here.
There was the Blizzard V20 RS (Giant Slalom). Originally highly oversaturated with graphite. The FIS requested Blizzard to reduce the amount of Graphite even in the serial production Ski. I still have one pair before the Change of the recipe. This Ski is infernal fast.
My proposal would be to experiment with gelcoat which is saturated with Graphite and get an structured finish.
A company which could be on your wavelenght regarding Innovation and Challenge is e.g. Völkl / Voelkl (Straubing, Germany). Maybe they have an idea how to structure a gelcoat.
They've invented the Speedwall(s), which is(are) the Sidewall(s) of the Ski. This Speedwall is structured as well and gets waxed as Well.
Just think about this Speedwall in gelcoat. That could be a explanation, which the Völkl / Voelkl Experts understand.
Would be Teflon /PTFE too soft for the Skids?
Thanks for the considered input here, and it's something @easycomposites and I have discussed prototyping in future, but where there's time to test/break and not on a critical expedition. The impact resilience of PTFE meant it was discounted.
The first thing I'd do is ask what the ski and snowboard builders use for the bearing surface and do that, including the waxing process directly before use. That's not a new technology, and if you wanted to make sure your resin bonds well to it, just test a piece. The difference between skiing on wax thats seen just a few days of use is noticeable when you rewax them, it's way more slippery.
You have a lovely and clean shop. Thanks for the test results.
Glad you enjoyed :)
Love those videos
Thanks François :)
So many knowledge and experience in one video.. thanks your team so much!
Very vivid and transparent shown.
11:20 loved that prepreg introduction! =)
This video clearly shows how carbon fiber is stiff, yet brittle, whereas aramid is relatively stiff, yet refuses to give up after the top/bottom plies fail! I've been trying to describe these properties in words for years. Now I can easily share this video!
What has Easy Composites seen regarding the strength and failure mode of hybrid fabrics like carbon fiber weft and aramid warp 2x2 twill cloth?
Thanks for your comment. Typically a hybrid carbon kevlar weave will combine both properties. Slightly less stiff, but more resilient than a pure carbon panel and vice versa when compared to pure carbon. You would normally find that the kevlar is introduced in both the warp and the weft to transfer these properties to the material when stressed in both axis. Our 2x2 twill for instance is made with alternating tows in both directions. It would be a very specific case where you only had the benefits of one material in a particular axis.
Extremely interesting video
Very interesting video! What about the carbon fiber and kevlar blend ?
Would love this as well
What did you have in mind for bonding the UHMW film? Ive used scotchweld DP-8005 with great success for bonding 3d printed brackets to pelican cases (polypropylene blend) but thats not exactly a laminating resin. IIRC it has a rather potent chemical that was a cross linker to allow it to cross link the acrylic adhesive base to typically chemical resistant plastics (UMHWPE, POM, PE, PP, PTFE, etc) but it was also good at cross-linking DNA and being carcinogenic, so I would actually make sure to use it in a fume hood, be mindful of gloves, rather than the more casual way that something like JB weld may get used.
next episode maybe test more materials like basalt , glass comparsion 0/90* to 45/45* etc ,
weight to stiffness etc
Basalt is the future
That's a very professional material comparison.
I hope you make a comparison for a hangglider, too.
I really wonder what would be the lightest options for a Klingberg mk2.
Also, if there is a signifant difference between high pressure carbon fiber vs laminated vs braided(?)
Hi Hanes, that might be a bit too specific for a general audience but we’ll try to keep providing more general guidance that would be applicable to projects like a hang glider.
Good one. Please make a video on split mold infusion and rtm
Hi Rohan, yes, we’ll do this. The next video is a very in-depth infusion guide, it’s not split so won’t cover what you’re after, but certainly will have a lot of useful information for you.
Great video! Nice testing and well explained! Was just a bit disappointed not seeing the carbon/Kevlar hybrid in the testing as I assume it is designed to solve the problem of having to chose between Kevlar or carbon for stiffness or impact! Keep up the good work, can't wait for the next video 👌
Hi Matt, thanks for your comments. Maybe we should have included carbon/Kevlar but we had to decide to stop somewhere. There were lots of other fibres we could have tested (PBO, UMHMPE etc.) and then there are hybrids of all of these fibres. We could probably have tested 20 laminates and still missed some obvious combinations. To address carbon/Kevlar specifically, although it might seem an obvious choice, the problem with a hybrid like this, for this application, is the failure mode: because Kevlar offers less stiffness and has a higher elongation than the carbon, in the event of a heavy impact on a carbon/Kevlar hybrid the Kevlar can (potentially) elongate past the maximum strain of the carbon, the carbon will break, leaving the Kevlar holding things together but possibly doing only that, holding it together. If you had another 2 months to drag a compromised sledge across the ice, you'd probably wish you'd made it all out of Kevlar.
I've learned more through this company than any videos I've watched from U.S. based companies..Extemely informative.....Now, the question is, what combination of these materials will give you the best strength to weight ratio in all areas....I'm thinking a layer of carbon as outer for initial impact strength, then a layer of kevlar, and finish with 2 layers of diolen....let the carbon takes the initial hit, the kevlar backing that up and then the diolen as a method of extending the overall strenth with some flexibility should the carbon and kevlar completely fail on impact....oh, the ideas that come to mind...I bet it would be great fun making and testing various combinations of these materials...as well as educational...OR, maybe diolen exterior layers, 2, then kevlar, then carbon....hmmm...ideas....
It entirely depends on the design of the part, there is no set answer. You would ideally need to do comparative structural calculations or testing to sort the best combination.
@@easycompositestv Couldn't agree more...I think it would be enjoyable, along with educational, to do a lot of various testing combinations for various applications...
At 9:40 if you covered all the materials with laminated resin, how can the friction between each material be different? Unless I’m missing something
Beautiful simply beautiful
Brilliant video!
I wonder if you should test molybdenum disulfide and/or teflon? Is it even comparable with gell coat? I have heard of using teflon filled epoxy as an anti adhesive surface. It is just about impossible to repair though, and I have always wondered about the moly...
I'd be interested to know your view on basalt fibre. It's main feature is a very high impact resistance.
To be totally honest Philip, we don't have much experience of basalt fibre. We'll bear it in mind for the future.
Another issue with carbon is that is highly thermally conductive. The epoxy resin will lessen this quite a bit, but one of the things that can happen with carbon is that as the water is melting on the surface from friction, it may start to refreeze faster increasing friction.
On the other hand, kevlar, polyester, and polypropylene are much less thermally conductive and would insulate the sled from the above better.
But with the epoxy resin, there probably isn't that much of a difference between all of them in this regard since the resin can make up a good percentage of the overall material, and epoxy resin is much more similar to kevlar, polyester, and PP in that regard (since these are all essentially plastics).
The layer of epoxy and the prolonged time in the cold environment for the sleds themselves mean they will likely be close to the ambient temperature for most of the in service usage so the material differences is not such a big issue.
Great video nice to see some tests of different fibers 👍
Thaks Fabrice, glad you enjoyed it
This is great info as I am making parts for sports cars and needed to know what material would have the best resistence to impact - primarily rocks thrown up by the tires into the fender well. Currently the cars have ABS, but when it gets cold it fractures. Having a combination of materials would probably be the best and I've settled on carbon/kevlar for the wheel side and carbon fiber for the engine side. Thanks for the series - I'm looking forward to the next one to see how you lay up the sledge.
Great, glad it's been interesting/useful. We hope your project goes well :)
Excellent video. Thanks.
Thanks Cameron, glad you liked it!
fantastic vid, thanks guys, this is what good sales is about.
Glad you enjoyed the video Manu!
The graphite can't possibly lower the friction when it's enclosed by the resin. Lubrication with graphite works through the individual graphite molecule layers sliding against each other, but that's not possible if all of it is encased in resin. Also the graphite particles will lead to a higher roughness of the surface just because of their shape, that's why friction decreased after sanding.
Hi Joel, that's all *fairly* logical. We weren't really expecting graphite to reduce friction in a low-to-no abrasion situation, this was more a case of addressing the fact that some sledge manufacturers do do this and so we wanted to work it through. There is a bit of a contradiction in your comment though, you describe that in the virgin component the graphite is fully encased in resin (which is true) but then suggest that the roughness of the graphite particles on the surface is the cause for the increased friction. I can assure you that because the resin full encases the graphite particles, there is no roughness from them and that abrading the surface certainly increases its roughness, not reduces it. And yet, the friction is significantly reduced in the example with graphite, compared to the sample without graphite which has had identical surface treatment. This seems to be something you overlook in your comment.
I'm reviewing here and I'll venture that wet sanded and buffed graphite infused resin would be slickest in both categories. Of course kevlar is often used as an outside layer because it's unbeatable against grinding friction. Incredibly difficult to wear through a kevlar splitter where a carbon one will disappear with every passing contact. A kevlar outer layer, followed by a few layers of innegra, and stiffened on the inside with carbon is the best multicomposite mix. If you have a human on the inside, layers of kevlar prevent carbon fiber intrusion in your soft parts. High end carbon aircraft line the cockpit with kevlar for that reason. In the multi layer I described previously, the layers of innegra diffuse the impact over a larger area. Material combinations absolutely work and are frequently used in aerospace.
I was also thinking about mixing these materials but not just multilayered; what about using a different material threads in a weave or mixing the materials fibers one process up when being spun into a thread
@@christopheb9221 you can get it. Spread tow triaxial fabric carbon/kevlar is as light as it gets with stiffness but a little flex before breaking.
The issue with Kevlar is it does not join to inself at all well so i would be using it as the core material. And you cant sand it, it just fluffs up.
i cant wait for the next video and really wish you make more videos
Thanks Amir, we're doing our best! The final part on this one won't be long.
@@easycompositestv thank you so much also if you can make a tutorial about composite planes please, thank you so much for all your hard work
@@easycompositestv you are the best, i almost learned all i know about composite with your toturials and matthieu libert page, your page gave me enough confidence to make parts myself and i never can thank you enough for it, you and matthieu
I just click thumbs up even before watching the video.
Ahh, well, I hope we don’t let you down!
From what I remember in my days as Air Frames Mechanic in the Navy you could get better bend strength of the composite structure, with the correct choice of the resin matrix that has a good bending strength at lower temperatures. The longer the resin matrix maintains adhesion with fiber layers the better bend strength.
Mr. Patrick, I have a doubt... For having better bending strength, u have to layup fiber in that direction, but how bending strength is dependent on resin system.
@@nishithkishore9841 the resin is the stiffening and binding agent. Without it there is no rigidity. There are two failure modes for a composite structure, one is failure if the fiber, second is failure of resin to hold the fibers in the matrix.
@@patrickradcliffe3837 ...Sir, can you share your email ID , I want detailed discussion on it. I am struggling with a component to increase its bending strength.
Excellent! I don't want to sound greedy, but I would sure like to see more about engineering propeties of composites. Maybe even principles for controlling directional strength and flexibility? I'm trying to combine light weight and flexibility, with localized rigidity. I've taught myself a couple tricks so far, but I know there is a lot I don't know!
Hi Freddy, thanks for the feedback and suggestions. We’d like to do more on these subjects too so we’ll keep this in mind.
You guys need to try a test with Innegra mixed with carbon. I’ve been told by Innegra that it is best to mix it with other reinforcements as it is not that good by itself.
Hi Alexander, well, yes, there's certainly some truth in that but it depends what you want to achieve. If you wanted maximum damage tolerance then you wouldn't combine the Innegra with anything else, if you wanted to add some stiffness then combining with a higher modulus material (like glass or carbon) can make sense. The problem with a hybrid like this, for this application, is the failure mode: the Innegra offers little stiffness and has a high elongation. In the event of a heavy impact on a carbon/Innegra hybrid the Innegra will offer little tensile strength, putting all the work onto the carbon, the carbon will break, leaving the Innegra holding things together but most probably doing only that, holding it together. If you had another 2 months to drag a broken sledge across the ice, you might not thank us!
excellent study
Thank you.
Use UHMWPE sheet to reduce friction!
Excellent video
Hello, thx for all the different videos, can you please make a video about all different kind of release agents and how to apply them on glassy or normal surface to be as smooth as possible and without haziness?or how mant layer needed .?? etc .... I think it's nice subject for a video
Hi Slim, thanks for the suggestion. Yes, that would make quite a useful video. Not likely to be a million-viewer but certainly of interest to those actually working with composite materials. We'll keep it in mind.
@@easycompositestv thanks for taking into consideration my proposal, it might not get 1M views but who knows since there's no video speaking about the subject in detail, you might be suprised. and Since there a lot of types of releases so you can cover a lot of topics (which purpose for each release agent?, how to apply? which one to choose for each case?) etc ... it will definitly be a good learning material for beginners and people with intermediate level.
When comparing the various material samples it would have been wonderful if you had included a simple fiberglass sample as well, as most of us are familiar with fiberglass and could better use that to gauge how these other materials compare to the most common composite that we run into. Maybe next time.
The video wasn't about general property comparison but specific to this individual project hence the fibreglass was ruled out very early on. It is possible in the future we may do a general materials comparison video.
@@easycompositestv Understood. It was just such a GOOD video but I thought it could be made more relatable by inclusion of a fiberglass sample as the "baseline" instead of carbon as the baseline. Looking forward to a video on materials in a more general sense to help us newbies pick a good material for our projects. Keep up the great work!
Some company has a hybrid fabric weaving innegra with basalt fibers. Basalt fibers have about the same strength as e-glass. But the combination of the two seems to provide the durability of the innegra with strength of fiberglass. It would be very interesting to see you two destructive tests done on that material.
Hi Dimitri, thanks for the comment. Indeed there are hundreds of different 'hybrid' fabrics which combine properties of different fibre types, unfortunately it would go on almost forever if we'd tested all of these materials! Basalt/Innegra could be interesting, as would basalt/glass. Maybe we'll do a video all about hybrid fabrics in the future which would allow us to dive deeper into those type of reinforcements in paricular.
Thank you UA-cam Algorithm I needed urgently to know what's the best material for a sledge
Hey, you never know when it might just come in handy :)
I'd love to see more guidance on choosing material for various types of projects. For example this video doesn't include fibreglass, and while it might have been a priori not the right choice for this, it is my understanding that being inexpensive is not its only advantage, it also has distinct durability advantages in some uses. It is obviously comparatively dense, but sometimes the weight disadvantage doesn't matter and envelope is more important.
You're right that fibreglass can have advantages over carbon fibre in some key areas, it's much better at not blocking RF signals for instance in use with model planes etc. We do want to cover more videos with material choice in mind, one of the issues are keeping it relevant. A guide covering every material choice for every possible application would be very long indeed.
I'm interested in how fiberglass would compare.
You only look at IN2 infusion resin here. Do you think there are meaningful differences between the various resins you sell when it comes to impact toughness at low temperatures?
There may well be some differences but as the part was always going to be infused, IN2 was the only real choice here.
How would you incorporate the UHMWPE into the mold? Would you coat with a graphite resin?
In basically the same way John. You could use a woven UHMWPE cloth in place of some or all of the Kevlar. The properties would be slightly different and it's often best to use UHMWPE in conjunction with other types of reinforcement.
@@easycompositestv thank you for your response
Love the experiments.
Thanks Connie, glad you enjoyed them.
THIS IS SO INTERESTING!
Thanks Mr. Robert
Just seen a video from a company developing a new eco friendly delivery vehicle and they were using flax composite.. Remembered watching this video, so I thought I'd come back and ask if you have or would do a comparison update with that, see how viable it is...
Couldn’t you ceramic coat the sled it’s self so the underneath would be hydrophobic?
That's not really technology we considered for this project Nathan, or have any experience of so I can't comment I'm afraid. With this being a real-life project with a timescale and a budget we have to draw the line somewhere.
What about combinations like a carbon/Kevlar blend?
Hi Michael, yes, absolutely, these would be an option. Our gut on this project is that we have sufficient stiffness in the Kevlar without compromising the impact strength by hybridising with carbon. Carbon/kevlar hybrids tend to provide good 'limp-home' failure modes which is why you'll see Kevlar required in vehicle panel laminates for some race series (the smashed door doesn't scatter across the race track) but may well be quite compromised for - for example - continuing to drag across the ice for another month or so. Nonetheless, hybrids and their strengths and weaknesses (no pun intended) would be well worth considering and could be an entire topic on their own - maybe the subject of a future video.
@@easycompositestv that would be awesome to see, thanks. The canoe/kayak community often uses carbon/Kevlar hybrids for those reasons as we need to be able to bump into rocks and trees, but keep on paddling. I have two canoes being laid up right now in a hybrid so I am particularly interested in what you might have to say
Love the name.:)God bless...this channel is awesome.ox
@@MichaelRogersJesusrules it's even better spelled properly ;)
@@mike93lx lol good 1.merry christ-mas.
Very interesting. Much of this applies to canoes as well. I would love to learn more about how combining layers would impact weight and strength of a 16 foot prospector canoe. The work horse of the north.
Hi Molly, well, you might be very interested to see one of our forthcoming tutorials where we make a 16ft canoe! Make sure you’re subscribed 😀
Why you Not testet pvdf or PTFE? Vinyl-Ester Harz mayby also Beter San epoxy.
would be interesting to see the yield results on those materials based on similar density rather than similar thickness to take advantage of their properties
More tec info like this please.
Great video ! I'm wondering what would be the outcome of the impact test if the constraint is to keep the integrity of the structure behind the laminate. My use case is a carbon sandwich sailboat bow with a sacrificial shield to protect from log strikes). Deflection become a more important factor which may place the carbon back on top of the leaderboard.
You would probably want some kind of foam between the two surfaces so that the foam absorbs the deflection of the outer layer to prevent excess energy being transmitted into the structure behind.
Just make the sleds and then bolt on the UHML runners. I understand they fear delamination but if they are bolted on like how cheap sleds do it I don’t think they’d have an issue. The bolt hole added friction would need to be worth the reduced friction though.
The strip runners will be UHMWPE, but we debated the 'skinning' idea at length. We opted to avoid it for such a major expedition, as it would rely on an adhesive - which might be fine, but we needed definitely fine. I've tried mechanical fixing of very thin 1mm UHMWPE before, and it loves to flex and wave, losing its shape.
waiting for the next video!)
My carbon bike has Kevlar inserts in the front and back forks
Have you tried Tegris? Self-reinforced polypropylene
Very nice tests.
And here's the But... What about hybrid composites? Layering the white fibers with keflar in the center?
Don't know how many layers were used but putting about a third of them as Keflar in the middle of the stack would make for an interesting test I would think.
And on a side note, testing impact with the outercoat applied would be important to. To see how the coat gets damaged in the process and what that would do for the friction with the ice and snow.
The tests shown were designed specifically for the sledge and its expected use so we have had to limit the scope of what was tested and shown. But yes there could be a lot of different combinations tested that might have different results.
Great video!!
Have you tried wax on the substrate? Works for surfboards, may work with colder weather too.
Hi Damon, yes, indeed, waxing PTEX (as found on skis and snowboards) used for the runners on the sledge would reduce friction so I guess the team probably do do that on the runners but potentially could do it on the belly too.
Now I know what my dream job is
It is interesting to see tests of the carbon-kevlar joint weave. From your website - 210g 2x2 Twill 3k Carbon Kevlar Cloth (1200mm) and 188g Plain Weave 3k Carbon Kevlar Cloth (1000mm).
Hi, yes, given lots of other comments too we probably should have included carbon/kevlar hybrids. But then we'd probably need to include carbon/Innegra too!
@@easycompositestv More tests! Better reviews !!!