DragonPlate carbon fiber Ekoa® core sheets are a natural flax linen fiber pre-impregnated (prepreg) with post-industry, plant-based resin. Flax linen is a natural fiber, know for its vibration dampening properties. These sheets have twill weave carbon fiber skins and a satin finish on both sides.
Using with Carbon Fiber
Ekoa® is engineered to be compatible with carbon fiber. The elongation at fracture of 1.5% and the coefficient of thermal expansion are similar to carbon fiber. When used with carbon fiber as a core (middle layer/s), Ekoa® flax linen, bio-epoxy prepregs, and flax linen dry composite reinforcement fabrics reduce weight and cost, while increase vibration damping properties.
Vibration Dampening with Ekoa®
Ekoa® has outstanding damping properties for an engineering material with a unique stiffness-damping combination. With 20-30 % higher specific stiffness than fiberglass, Ekoa® composites exhibit three times higher damping than carbon and fiberglass.
Ekoa® as Core Layer/s
Applications requiring the stiffness and strength of carbon—such as a high-performance bicycle frame—can be greatly improved by replacing some carbon plys with Ekoa®. Using the correct quantity of layers and orientation within the hybrid structure will generate constrained-layer damping and enhance the dynamic properties of the structure .
Standard constrained damping layers are usually made from highly viscoelastic polymers with poor structural properties, making it relatively complicated to integrate during processing and adding a lot of weight to the structure. In comparison, Ekoa® is light, has great structural properties, and can be processed in one-shot with carbon fiber.
