Ru-bix is constantly striving to develop new products and improve current boards. A prime example of this was the introduction of the HALO board. This completely unique board was developed in-house and offered properties to compete with traditional epoxy boards. The HALO has a low CTE and high Tg, and works well with carbon fibre prepregs. A key benefit of the HALO is that it is a much more cost-effective alternative to other high-performance boards, whilst still having the same mechanical and thermal properties.
Since the launch of the HALO, Ru-bix has had such positive feedback from the aerospace, automotive, Formula 1 and other industries. It is being used in an array of different applications where high-performance properties are essential. To date, the HALO board has been tried, tested and fully accepted in the market for approximately a year. The time has now come to take advantage of our wealth of experience with thermoset chemistry based on sustainable raw materials. After all, we have been dealing with sustainable chemistry since the early 1980s. Consequently, we have made some significant recent modifications to our tooling boards. We have now introduced the HALO-S.
HALO-S has the same mechanical and thermal properties as the previous HALO. However, the new product is derived from a resin containing over 60% sustainable content. In common with other industries, the composites industry is working hard to reduce its carbon footprint.
Ash Colvin MD of Ru-bix Tooling Board, has said:
“There is a massive drive in our industry to improve sustainability. This might be by using flax materials instead of carbon fibre, or by other means. The Ru-bix approach to improving the environmental attributes of its already popular Halo board has been to use bio-resins and recycled products in its composition. However, this is only a start from us, as we find ways to constantly improve the sustainability credentials of our products.”
One hurdle faced with sustainable products is that some people’s perception is that ‘properties go down and costs go up’. However, the HALO-S has the same mechanical and thermal properties as before, but the cutting properties have been significantly improved. This leads to less wear of the cutting tools. As far as price is concerned, the HALO-S grade will be a similar price to our standard HALO, which is roughly 40% less expensive than leading epoxy boards.
This new board by Ru-bix is at the forefront of innovation, and further innovations will be announced shortly.
For more information on the new HALO-S board, please email enquiries@ru-bix.com or call us on 01485 313020. A full datasheet will be sent through to you.