Highly abrasion resistant, with massive acceleration potential for a spiral wound product. Able to withstand g-forces that exceed 10x anything any high power rocket flight can present to it. No glassing necessary, no huge gaps to fill, no prepping, no sanding, no nothing, and most of all, COMPATIBLE with existing components!
How can we make these claims?
Drake Dämerau at www.rocketmaterials.org has tested three 3 inch diameter 9 inch long samples at his testing facility at General Dynamics and has confirmed that Blue Tube's axial peak stress was about 2.6 tons and was not prone to shatter or crack like fully cured phenolic.. Drake said "Tough stuff! It didn't break like phenolic does. Gives a lot more under stress."
Here is the data from the test: Numerical Data Graphed Data. Here is the burst strength data sheet from the manufacturer as well.
What does all the data mean?
Well, to put it simply, one must first understand the difference between "flexible phenolic" versus fully cured phenolic. Fully cured phenolic is very strong and very stiff, but is very brittle. So, to adapt to the needs of the HPR community, non brittle phenolic was introduced. I use it, I like it but what most people don't know is that it's the same thing as regular phenolic but just not cooked (cured) as long in the oven. That's it. What's the catch? Well, you have a product that will not be as brittle and more shatter resistant, in exchange for strength! (Bet ya didn't know that!) So, you end up with a really nice airframe that is much stronger than glassine paper tubing but no where near the load bearing of fully cured phenolic. That's where Blue Tube comes in.
Why is this important?
If you buy Blue Tube for your next project, you get far more abrasion resistance, zero cracking, zero brittleness, far more strength than partially cured phenolic, and far more radial strength than all three!
Where did it come from?
This material, manufactured under contract by Phenix Tube for the military, is ALREADY in use as a component in a military weapon that exposes it to an environment where acceleration exceeds 1000g's, as a component inside a warhead of the 155mm Howitzer, and 105mm Abrams Tank ordinance.
Plus, this is 28% more dense than phenolic (because it's NOT phenolic) and 36% lighter than fiberglass.
