A phenolic sheet is a hard, dense material made by applying heat and pressure to layers of paper or cloth impregnated with a phenol formaldehyde resin. Paper, cotton fabrics, synthetic fabrics, glass fabrics and unwoven fabrics are all possible materials used in the lamination process.
When heat and pressure are applied, polymerization transforms the layers into a thermosetting industrial laminated plastic.
These sheets, known as Synthetic Resin Bonded Paper (SRBP) or Fabric (SRBF), are produced in many commercial grades and with various additives to meet diverse mechanical, electrical & thermal requirements.
SRBP is also known as Paxolin and is typically manufactured to grades P1 for general purpose, low voltage applications, P2 for intermediate electrical and mechanical applications suitable for use in oil, and P3 for use in high voltage applications requiring excellent mechanical & electrical properties and machining characteristics.
SRBF is typically manufactured to grades F1 containing a fine weave structure that offers good mechanical and machining qualities, F2 with a medium weave structure offering strong mechanical flexibility and machining qualities and F3 which offers an open weave structure for commercial grade mechanical applications.
The materials can be machined and fabricated into parts for a wide range of applications such as fuse boards and mountings, printed circuit boards, engineering components, weaving loom carriers, mechanical support struts, seals & gaskets and electrical & thermal insulation barriers. Very thin sheets of SRBP & SRBF can be formed into rigid tubes often used in engineering applications as spacers and rigid cable harness protection.
Performance criteria for these products will depend on the thickness and manufactured grade of the sheet but in general, phenolic sheets offer excellent mechanical, thermal & electrical properties for most industrial & electro-mechanical applications.