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What are 3M™ Glass Bubbles? 3M™ Glass Bubbles are engineered hollow glass microspheres made from water-resistant and chemically-stable soda-lime borosilicate glass. Like all 3M glass bubbles, our 3M™ Glass Bubbles S15 are water and oil resistant, providing better utility in underwater applications. Additionally, they are non-combustible and non-porous, so they do not absorb resin; and their low alkalinity makes this product compatible with most resins while providing a stable viscosity and a long shelf life.
These low density particles are used for many demanding applications across a wide range of industries to provide temperature and pressure resistance, reduce part weight, lower costs and enhance overall product properties. For these reasons, 3M glass bubbles are a superior alternative to many conventional fillers and additives such as silica, calcium carbonate, talc and clay.
Strength-to-Weight Ratio The benefits don't end there; although these hollow spheres have thin walls, they have an isostatic crush strength of 300 psi, making them suitable for a number of applications — construction, paints and coatings, transportation, buoyancy and others. S15 bubbles have a fractional survival rate of 85% or more, at 300 psi for consistent performance and greater survivability. The unique spherical shape of these bubbles offers a number of important benefits, including: higher filler loading, lower viscosity/improved flow and reduced shrinkage and warpage. Adding to this product's versatility is its ability to be easily blended into compounds, making it adaptable to a variety of production processes including spraying, casting and molding.
The favorable strength-density ratio makes 3M glass bubbles an industry standard additive for syntactic foams used in buoyancy modules, buoys or buoyancy blocks for undersea vehicles. When 3M glass bubbles are formulated with resin, the resulting syntactic foam has a high strength-to-density ratio to provide maximum net buoyancy for a given depth rating.
Auto Body Repair Fillers 3M glass bubbles S15 can be used in many applications. One common use is in auto body repair filler, where this product is used as a lightweight additive. Using our glass bubbles in auto body repair filler helps formulators create a product that is both lightweight and easy to sand. This will help improve the quality of auto body repairs, allowing users to sand and create a smooth surface finish. Our glass bubbles represent an upgrade from other additives — such as calcium carbonate — which are typically more dense and difficult to sand.
Other Applications
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3M™ Glass Bubbles S32HS are performance enhancing polymer additives used to create ultra-lightweight parts with Class A paintable finishes in the automotive, marine, heavy truck and aerospace industries.
WATER AND OIL RESISTANT PROVIDING BETTER UTILITY IN UNDERWATER APPLICATIONS