3B has been working with Madshus for a few years to develop a fibre that allows the company to produce skis of lower weight, without comprising the performance of the ski itself, explains Eric Debondue, Business Development Leader at 3B.
"Flexing properties in cross country skis are crucial because of both compression on the topside and tension on the underside while skiing," says Bjørn Ivar Austrem, R&D Manager at Madshus AS.
"Previous attempts to reduce fibreglass content and therefore the ski’s weight resulted in maintaining tension but with an undesirable adverse effect on compression due to inadequate interlaminar shear strength.”
| High quality products demand high quality value-added components such as HiPer-tex which come at a cost, but which proves to be economical due to the reduced amount of fibre and epoxy resin required for its integration into our advanced skis. But more importantly it allows us to design and manufacture superior quality equipment for the best skiiers in the world, among them Paal Golberg, a rising star in the Norwegian national team, who excelled and raced to a place on the podium at the recent Ski World Cup. |
| Bjørn Ivar Austrem, R&D Manager, Madshus AS |
Using HiPer-tex, a glass fibre providing high strength, high modulus and high elongation at break, Madshus was able to reduce the fibre content by up to 15% without compromising tension on the underside of the ski, Austrem reports.
"HiPer-tex glass fibre has brought great advantages in both strength and weight savings, and by cutting the amount of fibre content Madshus has also been able to lower the amount of matrix to wet out the epoxy compatible fibre, thereby contributing to weight reduction.” In addition, 3B’s epoxy resin specific sizing is fully compatible with Madshus’ existing manufacturing processes. “The use of HiPer-tex fibre in the manufacturing process has allowed for a weight reduction of up to 10%, which is extremely significant for sports equipment," notes Debondue. Madhus skis is an example of 3B's strategy to expand the use of HiPer-tex fibre in applications outside of its current focus of wind energy (see 3B roving optimised for polyester and vinyl ester turbine blade manufacture), ballistic protection, and high pressure CNG cylinders (see Glass composite cylinders offer benefits for CNG vehicles), he notes.
