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Carbon repairs, and the use of Microballoons


Riccardo

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Could I seek advice and hints from Members on the addition of Microballoons to epoxy mixes when repairing dlg's. please ? I appreciate that their addition makes the repair easier to sand and achieve a smooth finish. But, are they used (with the resin mix) as a 'filler' rather than a structural repair.?  For instance : if I was repairing a fuselage breakage the general rule seems to be  - tack in place with CA glue to obtain a temporary fix in true alignment, then repair with a carbon weave cloth (or similar), and bag or wrap with tape. A wing repair is more tricky but YouTube seems to offer a number of options. On this Forum I have seen numerous advice references to the use of Microballoons but am unsure about when it is appropriate to incorporate them in a repair mix, and at what sort of ratio are they added to an epoxy resin mix ? Any advice would be appreciated.   Thank you ............. Richard.

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Here’s an extract from another site relating to their use as a filler in boat building:

Micro spheres or micro balloons, are lightweight and when added to a mixture, will reduce the weight. It increases the strength to weight ratio.

Microballoon mixtures also reduce the coefficient of linear expansion making the composite more dimensionally stable.

Radar Transparency can be increased with the use of microspheres. In other words the object is less visible to radar.

Adding microballoons also modifies the electrical conductivity and dielectric characteristics of a material.

The addition of microsphere helps control shrinkage of moulded products. It also adds insulating qualities.

Plastic mirospheres have some give and will bounce back from stress while glass microspheres are more likely to shatter.

So in short, the strength of the epoxy is reduced, but the volume mass is also reduced. Epoxy rarely fails as a bond, it’s usually the material near the epoxy. Therefore any reduction in the strength of the epoxy is unlikely to be detrimental with typical amounts of microballoons being added. Hope this helps.

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