Downloads (1)

Safety Datasheet (SDS)170 KB

Specification

Weight and Dimensions
Length600mm
Wall Thickness0.051mm
Width600mm
Product Data
ColourOrange
Thickness2mm
Mechanical Properties
Compressive Strength (Stabilised)0.9MPa
Plate Shear Strength (lengthways)0.5MPa
Plate Shear Strength (widthways)0.35MPa
Plate Shear Modulus (widthways)17MPa
Plate Shear Modulus (lengthways)25MPa
Compressive Modulus (stabilised)MPa
General Properties
Gross Weight0.021kg

Shipping Information

Restrictions

This product is not classed as dangerous goods for transport and can be shipped to all destinations without restriction.

Package Size

There are no package size restrictions or surcharges for this product.

Delivery Cost

To find the delivery cost of this item to your address, add it to your basket and then use the instant shipping calculator on the basket page.

3.2mm Cell 29kg Nomex Aerospace Honeycomb

High specification aerospace grade Nomex® aramid paper honeycomb core material. This super-low density core material weighs just 29kg/m³ and is used as a core material in ultra-light sandwich panels for weight-critical applications like competition R/C models, UAVs and ultra-light aircraft. Nomex honeycomb can be incorporated into a structure in a number of ways including wet-lay, vacuum bagging, adhesive bonding and prepreg (with or without adhesive film).

Available in 2mm and 3mm thickness in a range of sheet sizes.


PRODUCT VERSIONS

Sheet Size
Thickness

AVAILABILITY:10 in stock available for immediate shipping


PRICE
€30.55ex. VAT
10 in stock available for immediate shipping
QTY
SHEETS
SHEETS

Trade discounts

0-45+
€30.55€27.50
We won’t be beaten on price!

If you believe you’re buying an equivalent product cheaper elsewhere, contact us to discuss your requirements.

For years, genuine Nomex® aramid paper honeycomb has been the de-facto standard in none-metallic, lightweight core materials for sandwich composites. Nomex® honeycomb is used extensively in aerospace applications like cabinets, lockers and bulkheads as well as in high-performance motorsports including Formula 1 and WRC.

Genuine Nomex® is known for its excellent mechanical properties and trusted, consistent manufacturing precision. This ultra-lightweight ‘Aerospace Grade’ Nomex® weighs just 29kg/m³ and is much sought-after by competition R/C aero modellers and motorsport teams as one of the lightest core materials on the market. Targeted specifically at the competition R/C and motorsport market we stock this grade of honeycomb in 2mm Nomex® and 3mm Nomex® thicknesses.

We also stock a higher density Commercial Grade Nomex® honeycomb in 5mm and 10mm thicknesses for a wider range of uses.

Nomex® honeycomb is supplied ‘expanded’ and ready to use, as pictured.

Further Information

How to Use

Nomex® honeycomb is suitable for use as a structural core material in advanced composites ‘sandwich’ panels and laminates. At the 2mm and 3mm thicknesses listed on this page the honeycomb is capable of conforming around reasonable contoured mould surfaces or can, of course, be used for completely flat panels.

Use with Prepregs

Nomex® honeycomb is commonly used sandwiched between outer skins of prepreg carbon fibre to result in an incredibly lightweight, yet stiff sandwich panel.

Lamination in this way can be achieved with or without the need for a resin film adhesive (depending on the ratio and bond characteristics of the resin system used in the prepreg). Curing of the inner and outer skins, along with the adhesive film, can be done all at the same time or in multiple stages; for example curing inner and outer skins then bonding the skins to the core. The simplest method is a ‘one-shot’ cure where the resin flow of the curing prepreg also acts as the resin to bond the reinforcement to the core.

Use with Hand Layup / Vacuum Bag

Although Nomex® is known for its suitability for use with prepreg laminates, it can also be used, with excellent results, in more simple hand layup or vacuum bagged processing.

The simplest way to create a very lightweight Nomex® honeycomb panel would be to laminate a composite sheet using glass or carbon fibre with epoxy resin to form the outer skins for the panel. Using a peel-ply on the open surface of the laminate will make preparation for bonding much easier. Once cured the sheet can be removed from the laminating surface (typically a sheet of glass), ready to be sandwiched either side of the honeycomb. A batch of epoxy resin can be mixed and spread onto a surface so that the honeycomb can be dipped into it, coating the contact areas with resin without resulting in un-needed resin in none-contact areas. The honeycomb can then be placed onto the composite sheet and the first side allowed to cure. Once cured, repeat the process by dipping the other side of the honeycomb into resin and weighting it down onto the other skin.

Resin Infusion

The open cell structure of Nomex (much like aluminium honeycomb) means that it is not suitable for resin infusion. If a laminate containing Nomex was infused the cells of the Nomex honeycomb would simply fill with resin.

If you do wish to make use of Nomex honeycomb along with resin infused laminates then the laminates ‘skins’ must be infused first and then bonded to the Nomex core in a second stage.

Trade discounts

0-45+
€30.55€27.50
We won’t be beaten on price!

If you believe you’re buying an equivalent product cheaper elsewhere, contact us to discuss your requirements.

For years, genuine Nomex® aramid paper honeycomb has been the de-facto standard in none-metallic, lightweight core materials for sandwich composites. Nomex® honeycomb is used extensively in aerospace applications like cabinets, lockers and bulkheads as well as in high-performance motorsports including Formula 1 and WRC.

Genuine Nomex® is known for its excellent mechanical properties and trusted, consistent manufacturing precision. This ultra-lightweight ‘Aerospace Grade’ Nomex® weighs just 29kg/m³ and is much sought-after by competition R/C aero modellers and motorsport teams as one of the lightest core materials on the market. Targeted specifically at the competition R/C and motorsport market we stock this grade of honeycomb in 2mm Nomex® and 3mm Nomex® thicknesses.

We also stock a higher density Commercial Grade Nomex® honeycomb in 5mm and 10mm thicknesses for a wider range of uses.

Nomex® honeycomb is supplied ‘expanded’ and ready to use, as pictured.

Further Information

How to Use

Nomex® honeycomb is suitable for use as a structural core material in advanced composites ‘sandwich’ panels and laminates. At the 2mm and 3mm thicknesses listed on this page the honeycomb is capable of conforming around reasonable contoured mould surfaces or can, of course, be used for completely flat panels.

Use with Prepregs

Nomex® honeycomb is commonly used sandwiched between outer skins of prepreg carbon fibre to result in an incredibly lightweight, yet stiff sandwich panel.

Lamination in this way can be achieved with or without the need for a resin film adhesive (depending on the ratio and bond characteristics of the resin system used in the prepreg). Curing of the inner and outer skins, along with the adhesive film, can be done all at the same time or in multiple stages; for example curing inner and outer skins then bonding the skins to the core. The simplest method is a ‘one-shot’ cure where the resin flow of the curing prepreg also acts as the resin to bond the reinforcement to the core.

Use with Hand Layup / Vacuum Bag

Although Nomex® is known for its suitability for use with prepreg laminates, it can also be used, with excellent results, in more simple hand layup or vacuum bagged processing.

The simplest way to create a very lightweight Nomex® honeycomb panel would be to laminate a composite sheet using glass or carbon fibre with epoxy resin to form the outer skins for the panel. Using a peel-ply on the open surface of the laminate will make preparation for bonding much easier. Once cured the sheet can be removed from the laminating surface (typically a sheet of glass), ready to be sandwiched either side of the honeycomb. A batch of epoxy resin can be mixed and spread onto a surface so that the honeycomb can be dipped into it, coating the contact areas with resin without resulting in un-needed resin in none-contact areas. The honeycomb can then be placed onto the composite sheet and the first side allowed to cure. Once cured, repeat the process by dipping the other side of the honeycomb into resin and weighting it down onto the other skin.

Resin Infusion

The open cell structure of Nomex (much like aluminium honeycomb) means that it is not suitable for resin infusion. If a laminate containing Nomex was infused the cells of the Nomex honeycomb would simply fill with resin.

If you do wish to make use of Nomex honeycomb along with resin infused laminates then the laminates ‘skins’ must be infused first and then bonded to the Nomex core in a second stage.

Downloads (1)

Safety Datasheet (SDS)170 KB

Specification

Weight and Dimensions
Length600mm
Wall Thickness0.051mm
Width600mm
Product Data
ColourOrange
Thickness2mm
Mechanical Properties
Compressive Strength (Stabilised)0.9MPa
Plate Shear Strength (lengthways)0.5MPa
Plate Shear Strength (widthways)0.35MPa
Plate Shear Modulus (widthways)17MPa
Plate Shear Modulus (lengthways)25MPa
Compressive Modulus (stabilised)MPa
General Properties
Gross Weight0.021kg
Can’t find the answer you’re looking for?Ask our technical team a question.

Unfortunately not. Nomex is supplied to us from the manufacturer in 1200x1200mm sheets and therefore the largest sheet size we can supply is that size. Also, it's worth noting that Nomex honeycomb isn't made in a continuous format; it's made in blocks and then those blocks are cut down to thickness meaning that even direct from a manufacturer, you're unlikely to ever be able to purchase 3m in a continuous length (maximum block sizes at manufacture are usual 2400x1200mm).

Having said this, due to the way that honeycomb cores work, butting multiple sheets up next to each other has practically zero impact on the mechanical properties of the finished panel and so there shouldn't be any reason why you can't just place multiple smaller sheets adjacent to each other.

Unfortunately the nomex isn't suitable for machining and will break up into a fibrous consistency if you tried to cut with a milling tool.  

Nomex has very good compressive strength. In therory there would be no problem using a carbon/Nomex sandwich panel for the type of applications you're suggesting although normally these particular products would generally be single outer skins. A gun stock for example is quite a thick profile and not a classic application for a honeycomb core.

You would just sandwich layers (of carbon fibre, class fibre, aluminium etc.) either side, leaving the honeycomb empty inside. This way the core remains very light giving you a very strong and light finished panel.

In industry, the most common method is a temperature-cured adhesive film, such as XA120, however these adhesive films require pressure and temperature, making them impractical for many users, furthermore, they are less suitable for ultra-light structures - themselves adding 200 or 300gsm to the laminate.

If you are unable to process film adhesives, then the method we recommend for best results is to dip the Nomex in liquid epoxy resin. The reason to do it this way is it limits the resin used to only where the Nomex will contact the sheet rather than the more wasteful method of skimming a layer of resin over the whole panel.

By dipping the Nomex into a resin bath, some resin will bond to the cell walls thus creating a meniscus when laid onto the sheet. This thin fillet of extra resin will help improve the bond strength by increasing the bond surface area.

We would recommend our EL2 Epoxy Laminating Resin for this purpose. Done correctly, we have been able to make very well bonded Nomex cored panels where the adhesive contributes less than 50gsm to the finished panel (per bond line) which is significantly lighter than using an adhesive film.

The Nomex Honeycomb can be cut in a number of different ways, however in our experience we would recommend 2 main methods that work well.

The first and most precise method is to cut the Honeycomb using a sharp Stanley type knife and metal ruler. The blade is used to cut the Nomex cell wall at a time, guided by the metal ruler to give a neat and accurate cut line.

The second method is to use large scissors or shears to quickly and easily cut through the sheet. This is especially useful for the thinner sheets and also where a large amount needs to be cut down. The scissors can cause a slight bit of tearing and crush on the very edge of the sheet so this method works best where the edge of the sheet is trimmed after manufacture.

Other techniques are possible and may well work. However it is key to remember to avoid distorting the cells too much and anything too aggressive may well tear and rip into the cell structure leaving a poor quality edge.

The aerospace grades in 2 and 3mm are more suited to knife cutting whereas the commercial grades are stiffer and so can be cut on a table saw or similar, if required.

Although Nomex Honeycomb naturally has a high level of fire resistance and is self-extinguishing, this specific material as stocked has not been formally certified to any level of fire resistance.

Yes the Nomex honeycomb can be bent around some reasonably tight radii in a single axis curve. It does have a tendency to try and bow in the opposite plane when bent around a tight curve, so it may need a little force to hold it in place while being bonded.

Unfortunately we do not stock any resin film adhesives sometimes used for the honeycomb bonding process

Yes, XA120 Adhesive film can be used with this Nomex honeycomb to make a sandwich panel construction with a variety of skin materials.

The Nomex Honeycomb has a maximum operating temperature of 180°C.

Yes, ET538 would be a good choice for bonding a Nomex honeycomb to carbon sheets.

Yes we can provide a Suppliers Certificate of Conformity on request if you need one.

It's slightly subjective because it depends some practical considerations but the 2mm Nomex seems quite happy conforming to a radius down to about 80mm and the 3mm down to about 120mm. Tighter is possible but you'll start to find individual cells collapsing or distorting in a non-uniform way.

Nomex Honeycomb's are not compatible with Resin Infusion as the nature of infusion means all the honeycomb cells would fill with resin which would make a very heavy laminate which is usually the opposite of what is desired when using honeycomb cores.



However, there is no problem with using resin infused panels for the skins with the panel being subsequently assembled after the infused part has cured.

ASK YOUR OWN QUESTION

Note: Your name will be abbreviated and your email address will only be used to email you the answer directly

Note: Your name will be abbreviated and your email address will only be used to email you the answer directly

Customer Product Reviews for 3.2mm Cell 29kg Nomex Aerospace Honeycomb

No reviews

SUBMIT YOUR OWN PRODUCT REVIEW

We publish all reviews for verified purchases. Submit your own review and help other customers with their choices.

SUBMIT YOUR OWN PRODUCT REVIEW

We publish all reviews for verified purchases. Submit your own review and help other customers with their choices.

Shipping Information

Restrictions

This product is not classed as dangerous goods for transport and can be shipped to all destinations without restriction.

Package Size

There are no package size restrictions or surcharges for this product.

Delivery Cost

To find the delivery cost of this item to your address, add it to your basket and then use the instant shipping calculator on the basket page.

100% SECURE

    Secured by Digicert Payment processing by Adyen

PAYMENT METHODS

    Mastercard logo Visa logo Maestro logo Ideal logo Carte Bancaire logo Giropay logo Bancontact logo PayPal logo Bank transfer logo

Easy Composites EU B.V., registered in the Netherlands 73601195. All content copyright (C) Easy Composites Ltd, 2024. All rights reserved.