  Advantic™
Syntactic Foam
Advantic is CRG’s family of lightweight,
engineered syntactic foams made with glass, polymer, or ceramic
microspheres embedded in a resin matrix such as cyanate ester,
silicone, or epoxy. CRG’s exclusive mixing process produces
syntactic foams for a variety of applications and markets,
from acoustic panels to aerospace structural cores. Advantic’s
low density (half the density of water), high uniformity,
strength (better than many grades of concrete), and minimum
void content make the material beneficial to a wide and diverse
market. CRG Industries can provide custom, high-performance
Advantic for small and large projects.
What is Syntactic Foam?
Syntactic foam is a lightweight engineered foam
consisting of manufactured glass hollow spheres embedded in
a resin matrix. These hollow spheres typically range from
10 to 200 microns in diameter and are available in several
materials, including glass, ceramic and polymers. This type
of system has a very high compressive strength-to-weight ratio.
 Advantic
Applications
CRG’s syntactics (sold under the tradename
Advantic) are a good fit for applications seeking weight reduction
with little to no effect on performance or durability. Applications
for syntactics include underwater buoyancy applications, structural
core for aerospace components, tooling pattern-making applications,
small arms grips, rifle stocks, acoustics, oil well operations,
and deep sea operations.
Syntactic is also easily machinable, making
it a viable choice for many applications. With a coefficient
of thermal expansion similar to aluminum, syntactic optical
components can significantly reduce the weight of an optical
system. Since Advantic is lighter than water, has high compressive
strength, and remains buoyant, it can provide structural buoyancy
for dive equipment, oil drilling and rigging tools, flotation
buoys, and underwater pipelines.
What Makes CRG's Syntactic Foam Unique?
CRG has developed a unique process to produce
a strong yet lightweight syntactic composite. This process
involves a low-stress resin removal system in which the excess
resin is extracted from the syntactic material before the
resin is cured. Along with the excess resin, any microspheres
that may have been broken during the mixing process are also
removed. The result has low density and void-free content,
essential for high integrity composites. Advantic has outperformed
benchmark materials and is being sold through CRG
Industries.
Advantic can be custom fabricated in many different
shapes including blocks, cylinders, and even thin sheets.
The density of Advantic ranges anywhere from 0.30g/cc to 0.55g/cc,
providing a range of syntactic suitable for specific applications.
As a reference for how light Advantic is, balsa wood has a
density ranging from 0.1 to 0.2g/cc, while aluminum has a
density of 2.7g/cc. Advantic has a density close to that of
balsa, but has significantly higher strength. Depending on
the resin system used, foamed syntactic composite also has
the potential for an improved transition temperature and a
low dielectric constant, making it ideal for space use.
Who Uses Advantic?
In 2005, Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean
Futures Society used Advantic for fine-tuning the buoyancy
of their new rebreather diving systems. CRG provided the material
on short notice to support the Cousteau diving team’s
test schedule in preparation for filming deep dives on the
wreck of the Civil War-era, ironclad warship, Monitor.
Advantic met the team’s needs for a strong, machinable,
and lightweight material for adjusting the rebreathers’
center of gravity.
Additionally, oil companies are using Advantic
blocks for deep water pipeline support and bouyancy.
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