BR180 Heavyweight Breather layer Cloth (1520mm)

BR180 Heavyweight Breather Layer Cloth is a 320 ±20gsm non-woven polyester/polyamide felt fabric in a heavier/thicker weight than our standard BR180. Typically, this heavier weight breather would be used on the back of mould in envelope bagging to reduce the risk of punctures or as the main breather layer in autoclaved prepreg cures where it will, again, reduce the risk of bag punctures. When used as a bleeder layer in a wet layup this heavier weight breather has more resin absorption capacity which can be advantageous on thicker laminates.

BR180 is suitable for curing temperatures up to 180°C/356°F.

Recommended For:

• Puncture protection on the reverse side of the mould in envelope bagging.
• Vacuum bagged wet-lay.
• Prepreg vacuum bagging (autoclave)

Typical Use

Polyester felt such as BR180 is commonly used to ensure complete evacuation of air from within a vacuum bag (a breather layer) or to absorb excess resin from a laminate (a soaker layer). Sometimes, as in the case of vacuum bagging a wet-lay laminate, it serves both purposes.

In both applications, it is essential to separate the breather/soaker layer from the laminate to avoid the material from being wetted out by the resin and becoming an unremovable part of the laminate. This separation is usually provided by a release film, peel ply or both.

This heavyweight breather in often applied onto the back of moulds to make them less likely to accidentally puncture a vacuum bag when 'envelope' bagging whole moulds.

We would not generally recommend using this heavyweight version of the BR180 for OOA (out of autoclave) applications as this thicker material does not conform as easily as the standard material and can reduce consolidation in complex geometries.

How To Buy

This breather fabric is available to buy in a folded 2lm pack, by the linear metre (10lm minimum order) or in wholesale 50lm rolls. Please choose how you would like to purchase from the drop-down list above.

The material itself is 1.52m wide meaning that each linear metre is equal to 1.52sqm.

The 1.52m width of the breather means that (except for the folded pack) it is supplied in a 160cm long box. Please be aware that this 'oversize' package can result in higher transport costs for some international destinations. The 2m pack is folded into a small package which avoids this 'oversize' charge.

Further Information

Using Breather Layer Cloth in Different Processes

The following lists show a typical layup for pre-preg use and Wet Layup.

Prepreg Laminating

• [ -- Prepreg Laminate -- ]
• Unperforated-Release-Film
• BR180 Breather Layer Cloth
• Vacuum-Bagging-Film

Vacuum Bagged Wet Layup

• [ -- Wet Laminate -- ]
• Peel Ply
• Perforated-Release-Film
• BR180 Breather Layer Cloth
• Vacuum-Bagging-Film