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Forum Index : Windmills : Anyone used expanded PVC board?
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5116 |
One of our sign writer customers dropped in the other day with a sample of material he called expanded plastic. It was about 5mm thick, strong and very light. The piece he had was about 200mm ( 8 inches ) square, and was very difficult to bend. I guess it had the strength of 3mm plywood. It also returned to its original shape when released. Been unfamiliar with this material, I made a few phone calls to the supplier to find out what it was, with laser cutting we have to be careful what we cut. It was expanded PVC, and I think it also goes by the name of Forex. A sheet of 2400*1200*5mm is about $80au. Has anyone any experience with this material. Its very light, I was thinking of using it to make a bigger Miller rotor. Been PVC I cant laser cut it, PVC gives off Hydrochloric gas when laser cut, but it can be routed or cut with wood working tools. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Warpspeed Guru  Joined: 09/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 4406 |
I too have noticed this material, and was equally impressed by it's high stiffness and very light weight. But there may be some difficulty in applying it for highly loaded structural applications, because I doubt if it will handle high concentrations of stress very well. For example, simple bolts or screws would likely crush the material, or tear out fairly readily. Anchor points of high stress concentration might need to be reinforced over a reasonable area to spread the load sufficiently. But it is certainly a very interesting material. Cheers, Tony. |
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Gill Senior Member  Joined: 11/11/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 669 |
For your material that won't take screws, try Sikaflex. Spreads the loading over larger area and sticks to dam near everything and just won't let go. Here's a material I'd like identified. It is two sheets of what appears to be hardened aluminium sandwiching what appears to be Laminex. I have several of these 'found at the dump' items and am looking to make a set of blades from them. 
Any clues?? was working fine... til the smoke got out. Cheers Gill _Cairns, FNQ |
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Storm Regular Member  Joined: 12/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 43 |
Hi Glenn, I think the stuff you were asking for is called corrogated plastic some brand names include Correx, coroplast, coreflute, corelite, fluteboard and twinplast.  |
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Trev Guru Joined: 15/07/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 676 |
Glenn, Does that 'expanded foam' look like that pink foam I gave you some time ago?? That pink foam is expanded PVC - 80kg/m3, an offcut from making my EV ute tray. It comes in a lot of different density grades and thicknesses. I use 6mm, 80kg/m3 in the F/glass composite blades. Its trade name is Klegecell. Another trade name is Divinycell. Both materials have identical characteristics and both are made by DIAB, just sold by different outlets. There is another fellow also making the stuff, but last I heard was still not certified quality. I don't know the name of his product. Trev @ drivebynature.com |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5116 |
Nup, you are both wrong. 
The sheets come in different thichnesses, 3mm, 5mm, 8mm, etc. Its very dense, but very light. There are no visible air pockets, but you know its full of air. If you cut it, it behaves and looks like a marsh mellow. The skin is slightly harder and shiny. I'll send myself a message and take a photo of the sample I have a work. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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