Snowboard Science

Glass laminates are bonded with an epoxy resin to create the key structural layer of any snowboard. By changing the orientation of the glass fibres and the thickness of the core a manufacturer can change the ride characteristics of a board. Using alternative material fibres placed in key locations the boards torsional and longitudinal stiffness can be tweaked.

The key to sandwich construction is that fibres are placed under tension and compression. Effectively, the greater the Young’s Modulus (fancy name for the tensile stiffness of a material) of the fibre the less a fibre deforms under a load and the stiffer the board. Fibres only really deal with loads efficiently when the fibre runs in the direction at which the board is flexing; hence the material and orientation of the fibre are key to the way a board flexes under use, essentially the way it feels.

Fibre Orientation

Biaxial

(0/90): Soft torsional and longitudinal flex resulting in a forgiving and buttery ride. Essential for rail and jib specific boards and the standard glass used in entry-level rides. See fig.1.

Triaxial

(0/+45/-45): Fibres run parallel to and at +/- 45 degrees to the core grain of the board. Tri-axial glass is usually the stock laminate for all mountain and progressive freestyle boards. Providing increased torsional stiffness over biaxial for riding out slushy landings and powering through heavy chop. See fig.2

Quadaxial

(0/90/+45/-45): For boards that blast through everything. Usually used in point and charge big mountain guns for un-compromised grip and minimal chatter. Responsive edge-to-edge but requires an aggressive rider with a bit of muscle and body weight.See fig.3

fig.1 fig.2 fig.3

Materials

Glass

Glass is the standard composite fibre material used in ski and snowboard construction. It is cheap (compared to alternative materials), light and allows the snowboard to bend.

Carbon

A Carbon fibre epoxy composite has a Young’s Modulus of approximately 4x that of glass fibre composites of similar mass. In layman’s terms under the same load it will stretch ¼ as much as glass fibre composites. The majority of manufacturers who use Carbon Fibre do so extremely sparingly, cross linking effective edges to improve edge-to-edge response or running stringers from tip to tail along the centre of a rail board to increase pop without increasing the torsional stiffness.

Kevlar

Yep the same stuff that goes in bullet proof jackets. Particularly resistant to impact damage, Kevlar usually finds itself under bindings to protect fragile cores and help retain inserts. Kevlar stringers are also extremely effective at damping vibrations and are often found in expensive freeride and all-mountain snowboards to reduce chatter at high speeds.

Hand lay-up and Pre-pregs

The majority of boards are manufactured with the resin applied by a skilled factory worker using a paint brush. Manufacturing boards this way keeps costs down and half the Slovenian work-force in a job. The problem with hand lay-up is that it’s inconsistent, uneven distribution of resin can result in voids where fibres lack resin (not good), and by applying resin by hand the weight of the board can vary considerably from board to board. The alternative to hand lay-up is using Pre-peg (Pre-Impregnated) laminates. Pre-pregs arrive at the factory with resin and curing catalyst applied to the fibres in perfect uniformity. Great for keeping weight down but they’re expensive and require refrigeration to keep the resin from curing. Flagship boards like the Burton Vapour, Amplid Hi-Def and Elan Inverse use pre-pregs to keep weight down. Palmer use pre-preg laminates as standard.