CoreLite - CoreLite Blog #Composites

CoreLite Signs Agreement with Local Government for Balsa Wood Supply

Fri, 04 Dec 2020 23:11:17 +0000

CoreLite has signed a long-term Balsa Wood plantation cooperation agreement with the local Government of Los Rios Province in Ecuador during a public ceremony on Wednesday December 2, 2020. This agreement entails the planting and harvesting of Balsa Wood plantations throughout Los Rios Province over a 5-year period with a target number of 2,500 hectares of Balsa Wood plantations. The main drive of this agreement is to bring technological development and the creation of new jobs in Ecuador.

"This agreement will create several life-changing income opportunities for the local communities in Los Rios Province with a completely sustainable product that is commonly used in wind energy applications" said Mr. Johnny Teran Salcedo, Prefect of Los Rios Province, Ecuador.

This private-public partnership will also ensure the ample availability of sustainably and legally sourced raw material for the production of Balsa Wood panels that CoreLite manufactures and distributes worldwide.

"This is part of CoreLite's global sustainability initiative to promote responsible forestry, reduce the carbon footprint, while at the same time ensuring future availability of raw material" said Mr. Paul Lewis, Managing Director at CoreLite.

Balsa Wood is an endemic wood species to Los Rios Province, so the natural ecosystem of Los Rios Province will be restored.

Left: Mr. Johnny Teran Salcedo, Prefect of Los Rios Province, Ecuador.

Right: Mr. Paul Lewis, Managing Director at CoreLite

About CoreLite

CoreLite is a global manufacturer of advanced Balsa & Foam core materials for high performance composite applications. CoreLite specializes in producing sustainable materials and delivering customized composite solutions to solve engineering challenges.

For more information about CoreLite visit: www.corelitecomposites.com

For more information about Los Rios Government visit: www.losrios.gob.ec

CoreLite Unveils Next-Generation PC11 Pro Coating for BALSASUD® Core

Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:11:24 +0000

BALSASUD Core Coated CoreLite will unveil the next-generation PC11 Pro coating system at the JEC World 2018 in Paris during March 6 to March 8. The PC11 Pro coating system was engineered to significantly reduce resin uptake during the lamination process by sealing the pores in the end-grain balsa wood sheet more effectively than the standard PC11 coating system.

Balsa core resin uptake was compared between the standard PC11 formulation, and the newly developed PC11 Pro formulation against non-coated balsa. The balsa core was coated using the latest UV technology and then vacuum infused. The results show as expected: the new PC11 Pro formulation achieves significantly lower resin uptake compared to the standard PC11 coating formulation.

A typical balsa sheet of non-coated balsa wood core will absorb roughly 1900 grams of resin per square meter (177 grams of resin per square foot) during infusion. The standard PC11 formulation was able to reduce the resin uptake by up to 46% to 1020 grams per square meter (95 grams per square foot) of resin uptake. The new PC11 Pro formulation is completely revolutionary as it reduces resin uptake by up to 76% to only 450 grams per square meter (42 grams of resin per square foot).

After several months of Research & Development, we are glad to release the most advanced coating technology for balsa wood core in the market, which can provide incredible resin cost savings to our customers and significantly decrease the weight of the final composite structure” said Ms. Elsa Axelsdottir, Innovation Manager at CoreLite.

This new coating solution will be a key component to make structures lighter and more cost effective without losing the unique mechanical properties of balsa core. It can be used in wind, marine, rail, automotive, aerospace, defense and industrial applications. And can be used with different lamination processes including hand lay-up, vacuum bagging and infusion.

About CoreLite

CoreLite is a manufacturer of advanced balsa & foam core materials for high performance composites applications. CoreLite specializes in producing sustainable materials and delivering customized composite solutions with agile turnarounds.

For more information about CoreLite visit: www.corelitecomposites.com

4 Key reasons you should be using balsa wood

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 21:44:55 +0000

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.