Engineered balsa, foam core configurations
3A Composites attracted much attention with the introduction of Banova, an engineered balsa offered in a variety of configurations.
3A Composites (Sins, Switzerland) attracted much attention with the introduction of Banova, an engineered balsa offered in a variety of configurations. Banova can consist of multimaterial sheets and panels, balsa flat grain or end grain or balsa fibers at any angle in multiple layers. This allows the manufacturer to build a core of multilayer balsa with the grain oriented in multiple directions to meet specific mechanical loads. Also introduced: AIREX SealX, a new sealing technology that is said to offer, in BALTEK SB and SBC balsa cores, an 80 percent reduction in core resin uptake during infusion, compared to 50 percent with 3A's AIREX T90 and T92 cores. This reportedly enables PET-cored sandwich construction that is lighter than PVC-cored solutions. The company also launched AIREX T92.80, a new low-density PET core material targeted at weight- and cost-sensitive applications in wind energy, architecture, automotive and marine applications. The latter meets Det Norske Veritas (DNV) requirements for boat decks and superstructures.
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