Reinforcement material types and properties.

The fabricator generally has a wide choice of reinforcing material types to choose from, Fibreglass, Carbon Fibre and Kevlar, all have their advantages and shortcomings.

Fibreglass Cloth (woven roving)

The least expensive and widely used fabric, it has been used extensively with great success for the past 50 years. It has moderate compressive and tensile strength, and is easy to handle and machine and is relatively lightweight. (click the thumbnail pic for full view)
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Carbon Fibre.

This material is quite a modern reinforcement and the most expensive of all, its characters include being extremely low weight, high stiffness and high tensile strength, it handles quite easily and can be laminated much like fibreglass cloths.

However some advanced curing techniques are required to achieve the full properties of this product, the fact of its price often limits its use to selective reinforcement where very high stiffness and lightweight properties are sought.We stock a 2x2 twill weave cloth 200g per mē, available from the roll 1m or 1.2m wide (click the thumbnail pic for full view)
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Kevlar.

Kevlar, an aramid type fibre has the lowest density of all three fibres, achieving superior toughness and high tensile strength for its weight, its also abrasion and puncture resistant, which makes it the choice for high quality canoes, Kayaks, aerofoil etc.

It is priced just below Carbon fibre, but is very difficult to cut and machine making it quite difficult to work with. (click the thumbnail pic for full view)
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Hybrid : Carbon fibre/Kevlar mixed cloth.

Priced in-between fibreglass and the other two fabrics, this material is a very popular choice for sporting and high performance type applications.

A hybrid fibre combining the superior characteristics of carbon fibre and Kevlar to achieve a very high tensile strength, abrasion and puncture resistant lightweight material, used in very high quality sporting equipment and space-age technology. (click the thumbnail pic for full view)
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CARBON-FIBRE Tape 200g/mē Bi-directional 50mm wide.

CARBON-FIBRE Tape 200g/mē Uni-directional 50mm wide

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