We may have better foils, boards and bars soon.
How long before kitesurfing equipment makers catch on to this new great material? It seem that hydrofoils will benefit most from it. What do you guys think? Is this exciting or not?
DSM Dyneema couldn’t hide their excitement of their new product: Dyneema Carbon, which they launched at K. Dyneema Carbon is a hybrid of pure carbon fiber and Dyneema fiber that can be tailored to meet a variety of performance requirements. By marrying carbon with Dyneema, impact energy absorption can be increased by up to 100% while removing the risk of splintering. DSM claims that Dyneema Carbon hybrid composites are also lighter, less brittle and more vibration dampening than pure carbon composites.
“Carbon fiber is a great material but it is lacking in impact performance – ductility– so when we mix in Dyneema with carbon fiber, it gives you ductility,” Motahari Pour says. “Carbon fiber is already lightweight and stiff but it has drawbacks of being brittle…adding Dyneema complements the stiffness and improves ductility and improves the feel and contributes to a weight difference, making the composite lighter.”
This ability to replace up to half the carbon with Dyneema without significantly reducing the final composite’s typical ‘carbon fiber’ performance, reflects another useful property of Dyneema, according to the company. Dyneema fibers have a lower density than traditional carbon fiber. So, on a weight-for-weight basis, you can make the composite that contains Dyneema thicker than one that doesn’t.
http://www.compositesworld.com/blog/pos ... l-impacts-
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