Kevlar Flat Braid is a braid made from genuine Kevlar fibre woven in such a way that the braid is 'flat', i.e. it is not a tube/sleeve but instead resembles a densely woven tape. The fibre orientation of the tape is +/- 45 degrees which means that the braid is ideally suited to handling torsional loads, affords excellent conformity (drape) without buckling the fibres and resists crack propagation.
Kevlar Flat Braid is used as a very high strength tape for joining composite panels or protecting joins in composite panels, most commonly around the seam of kayaks, canoes and other small boats.
Kevlar Flat Braid is compatible with all conventional resin systems including polyester, vinylester and epoxy resin. Most commonly, the braid is applied to the outside seam of canoes and kayaks so completely overlap the join between the upper and lower hull mouldings. The braid is then simply wet-out with epoxy resin and then once cured, overpainted once more with another coat of epoxy resin to create an extremely tough, durable and protective join.
Alternative Uses
Kevlar Flat Braid can be put to excellent use in a wide range of composite and none-composite applications including:
- Joining and protecting the join of canoe/kayak shells
- Reinforcing radial connections
- Reinforcement for pultrusion profiles
- Use in abrasion resistant protective garments
- Firetoys (wound around spinners/sticks etc. to retain the fuel)
- General composites applications as a very strong reinforcement tape
Specification
The heavyweight flat braid on this page has a nominal width of 45mm although, in common with all braids, elongating or shortening the braid will change its width.
We stock Kevlar Flat Braid in three different specifications as follows:
Product |
Weight |
Stretched Width |
Width at 45° |
Stretched Weight |
Lightweight 300g 14mm |
300g/m² |
10mm |
14mm |
3.9g/m |
Lightweight 300g 32mm |
300g/m² |
25mm |
32mm |
8.56g/m |
Heavyweight 400g 45mm |
400g/m² |
35mm |
45mm |
13g/m |