Balsa wood has been around in the composites industry for several decades. It is used in a variety of applications and industries, including wind turbine blades, boat building, rail, aerospace, automotive, as well as several other industrial applications.
With such a versatile material, what are the key features that make balsa wood the right choice of core material for a project?
1. Lightweight
The standard density of balsa is 9.5lbs/cuft. However, BALSASUD Core is also available in 3 other densities:
• 6.5lb/cuft - Ultra Lite
• 8.25lb/cuft - Wind Grade
• 17.5lb/cuft - Heavy Weight
This provides users, with more choice to choose the right density according to their project's strength and weight requirements.
2. Super Strong
When compared to the synthetic foam core competitors in the market of the same density, balsa wood outperforms in all densities. In the infographic on the left, the balsa wood is depicted with the green bar. It is clear that in compression and shear, the balsa wood is much stronger. Evidently, nature does it better.
3. Cost effective
As balsa wood is a natural product we have optimized the production to yield a high quality material for a competitive price. It is known that some of the synthetic foam core materials are very complex to manufacture, thus the cost of the material reflects that fact. CoreLite is vertically integrated in the balsa wood production line. Controlling our entire manufacturing process from the trees to the end product enables CoreLite to maintain very competitive pricing.
4. Renewable
Balsa wood may have once been considered a weed in Ecuador. It grows naturally all throughout the country, but most notably the growth is very rapid. After only 4 years, the tree has reached a height of 90 feet. All of CoreLite's balsa wood comes from sustainable plantations that are managed responsibly and with care for the environment. Balsa wood is a renewable resource.
When working on a project that requires very high strength properties, but still requires light weight properties, consider balsa. These 4 key factors have kept the material around for a long time and we expect it to stick around for a while longer.
Check out our other post on awesome facts about balsa wood.
