I hope to be doing my first composite project within the next two months, and I’ve been looking into soric. Just looking at it, it seems like it’s mostly empty space, which makes me wonder about how heavy it is once it’s full of resin. So does anyone know how much it weighs when it’s full of resin compared to carbon or other core materials?
It looks like good stuff in regards to successful vacuum infusion, but I want my final product to be as light as possible.
Thanks!
How about studying the datasheet?
http://www.lantor.nl/index.php/id_structuur/10599/soric.html (download link to datasheets are on the bottom of the page)
Anyhow, Soric SF and XF take about 500-600 gr/m2/mm of resin. LRC takes less. Loss of thickness is about 10-20% at 80% vacuum. (TF more, LRC less)
Given the fact that foam also needs a considerable amount of resin (about 1-1,2 kg/m2) it is a very valid option in low thickness requirements. Also it is drapable, unlike foam. And it can really help infusion.
One small hint: Soric needs about 30 minutes of vacuum to equalise pressure in the cells. Any integrity test should be performed after that, and infusion should also take place after at least 30 minutes of vacuum.
Thanks a lot!
Hi Anthony,
Recently, I made a “U” shape (1/2 rectanglur tube) 2" wide and 6" deep over a male mold using a carbon Soric sandwich. I was looking for an alternative to honeycomb that I could infuse with one shot to produce a very light structural part.
The faces were 1 layer of 5 oz uni carbon each and the Soric was 2 mm thick. The infusion resin system was Proset 117 LV with 237 hardener.
It certainly infused beautifully as expected - but ended up being much heavier than a part with a honeycomb core. The outer face was also quite bumpy as the bag sucked it down between the little hex shaped islands in the Soric…not acceptable for a structural element.
I’m going back to honeycomb in multi-step process and trying to solve the key problem of attaching the very thin inner face without adding a non-structural layer of cloth to close the honeycomb. I have not tried film adhesive since I don’t have a proper oven that can ramp and soak…
Hope this helps…
Soric takes some 500-600 grams of resin (is that 20 oz?) per sq meter per mm thickness.
So 4 oz per sqft for the 2mm version.
Soric is not a replacement for honeycomb, at least if the honeycomb is used for its lightweight properties.
As for bonding honeycomb to a single layer of carbon: I doubt you will get away with using no bonding layer. There is just too little resin in a single layer for developing a nice fillet radius to the honeycomb cell walls.
Also when dealing with prepreg, invest in a ramp/soak controller. Should not cost much.