Basalt fiber anyone...?

[henrikb]

I reacently heard of Basalt fiber, has anyone tried it out?
The mech properties seems to be about the same as for S-glass.
Is it suitable for boat building?

[jwaring1]

I have recently come across a few rolls of BT-11 Basalt fabric from Sudaglass and have used it with polyester resin to get the same results of S-Glass. It seems to be the same to work with as fiberglass. With the added strength and UV resistance this type material has great posibilities.

[michaelgunther]

I am the NA rep for a Russian basalt fiber manufacturer called Kamenny Vek. My background is in silane coupling agent chemistry and sizing for fiber glass. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about the product.

[zerogara]

http://www.sudaglass.com/chars.html

Here is a comparative chart I've found at the sudaglass site.

[RSLOOP]

Hi Michael
My wife and I are the owners of the R-Sloop Fantome(1924). We have started to replace 5 frames and joining floors under the mast step and have plugs for molding of new composite parts in process. The hull is West encupsolated.
Question: Can basalt be wetted out with West?
Could you supply a sample?
What is your thought on this project?
Thanks,
Henry

[michaelgunther]

Henry,

I am not familiar with that specific resin but we have a product tri-compatible with polyester, vinylester, and epoxy resins. I have not heard of any wet out problems with any of these resins so I would think it would work with yours. If you know of exactly what glass products you need I may be able to find them here. If not the shipping from Russia will be pretty expensive for such a small project. Just let me know how you would like to procede.

The basalt fiber will work fine for your application.

Regards,

Mike

[RSLOOP]

Mike,
The WEST system is an epoxy resin.
Pehaps the oldest epoxy for wooden hulls.
Great to hear basalt is competable with epoxy
I will figure out quantity, perhaps some where around 15 yds.
I will come back to you.
Thanks
Henry

[DanishBagger]

I found this pdf on basalt fibres. Looks like it could answer quite a lot of questions:

http://www.basaltex.com/logos/Basalt%20fibres.pdf

And their site is of course:

www.basaltex.com

[RSLOOP]

DanishBagger
Thanks for the tip, lot"s to digest.
Thanks
Henry

[DanishBagger]

You're welcome, RSLOOP, I'm still reading that damn thing, trying to soak it all in :)

[TeddyDiver]

Bringing this thread back to live incase of anyone having any news or experiences about Basalt fabrics ?

Curious Teddy..

[KnottyBuoyz]

I've got some samples and tried some hand layups, vac bagging and infusion. It works the same as fiberglass. Mechanical properties seem to be very similar. Still too expensive around here though (about $30/yd) at that price might as well go CF.

[TeddyDiver]

Still too expensive around here though (about $30/yd)
Got an offer of 600gsm Basalt roving 50sqm/~230€ so it's about $7/yd.. think I buy it..

[apex1]

Got an offer of 600gsm Basalt roving 50sqm/~230€ so it's about $7/yd.. think I buy it..

Basalt fibre
Density: 2.75 g/cm³
Tensile strength: 4840 MPa
Compressive strength: 3792 MPa
Modulus of elasticity: 89000 MPa
Elongation at break: 3.15 %

E-glass fibre
Density: 2.6 g/cm³
Tensile strength: 3450 MPa
Compressive strength: 3033 MPa
Modulus of elasticity: 77000 MPa
Elongation at break: 4.7o %

Price: single strand roving, 2000 meter = 43€

http://shop.r-g.de/out/pictures/1/00629_p1.png

[KnottyBuoyz]

Got an offer of 600gsm Basalt roving 50sqm/~230€ so it's about $7/yd.. think I buy it..
Roving isn't the best for structural work. It's fine as a filler but will result in heavier layup using more resin. The stuff I have is Quadraxial stitched fabric.

[Herman]

One of my suppliers, Selcom in Italy, now produces basalt knitted reinforcements on a regular basis. It works well. Technical properties are a bit higher, but also chemical properties and thermal properties are better then glass.

It laminates just as well as glass, just be aware that you will not see air bubbles, just like with carbon or aramide.

[TeddyDiver]

Roving isn't the best for structural work. It's fine as a filler but will result in heavier layup using more resin. The stuff I have is Quadraxial stitched fabric.

There's few places I prefer to use roving as a final layer. On flattish surfaces like decks it's smoother texture (without stithing and even spacing btw the fibres) saves some sanding and filler/epoxy.
Everything else is biax..

[TeddyDiver]

Anyway if someone is interested they http://shop.r-g.de/en/home/ (thanks to Richard about the link) have some roving left thou it's not anymore listed in the online-shop. Anyway they are selling the rest of it with a quite reasonable price.
Other sources: http://www.basaltex.com/
http://www.selcom-srl.com/eng/fibre.asp (thanks Herman)

couldn't find anything with "Tissa" and "Pasia", thou they also should have some..