Hexcel is an industry-leading manufacturer of composites materials, with products ranging from carbon fiber prepreg to honeycomb core and adhesives. We are very grateful for their sponsorship during Zephyr’s construction, and used their lightweight honeycomb core in both the exterior shell and interior stiffening panels. The aerospace-grade Nomex honeycomb was manufactured at Hexcel’s Casa Grande facility, and allowed us to strengthen our parts without adding unnecessary weight. In addition, Hexcel’s core was easy to work with in manufacturing, aiding our fabrication process. Thank you Hexcel for all your help!
The value of Hexcel’s sponsorship can be further demonstrated through a quick overview of composites sandwich panels. Sandwich panels comprise of a “core” material (Hexcel’s honeycomb core) sandwiched between two “facings” (carbon fiber in our case). While the facings provide tensile and compressive strength along the plane of the panel, the crush-resistant core stiffens the sandwich structure against out-of-plane bending. Since the honeycomb core is mostly hollow, very little weight is added. In this way, it acts much like an I-beam: the webbing in the middle adds stiffness and strength with very little increase in weight. The advantages can be substantial, as this table from Hexcel’s Sandwich Panel Fabrication Technology Datasheet demonstrates:
For this reason, we tried to incorporate Hexcel’s honeycomb core into the majority of our carbon fiber shell. Their core materials can be engineered to facilitate bending along a chosen axis, helping us lay core along the complex curves of the outer shell.
We proudly display Hexcel’s logo on our website, and look forward to racing with their logo at this summer’s Formula Grand Prix. We encourage you to visit their website at www.hexcel.com for more information on their cutting-edge products and facilities.