CER
Nextel 440 Ceramic Roving 111 tex / 400 filaments 400
3M ? ALUMINA-SILICA-BORIA
Manufacturer page / TDSDescription
Continuous oxide-ceramic roving. Published dielectric constant at 9.5 GHz: 2.8; loss tangent: 0.001.. Product form: Continuous ceramic roving. Thermal/service: Melting 1800°C; continuous use 1300°C at 40% strength retention. Official source: AF-3M-NEXTEL
Comparative overview
Oxide ceramic fiber — ALUMINA SILICA BORIA
Strengths: Electrically insulating, oxidation-resistant reinforcement that retains useful performance at temperatures far beyond polymer fibers and conventional composites.
When to use: Select for fire barriers, thermal shields, seals, electrical insulation and oxide CMC/PMC/MMC reinforcement in aerospace and industrial hot zones.
Key tradeoffs: Very high cost, brittle handling and specialized processing; exact retained strength differs substantially among alumina, mullite and aluminoborosilicate grades.
Qualitative ratings (1–10 scale)
| Relative cost | 10/10 — Very high — specialized continuous ceramic fiber with demanding precursor and firing processes. |
|---|---|
| EM transparency | 9/10 — Excellent — electrically insulating and broadly EM transparent; used in nonconductive structural/radome composites. |
| Temperature / fire resistance | 10/10 — Extreme — oxide-stable continuous fiber with continuous-use capability up to roughly 1200–1300°C depending on grade. |
| Impact / penetration resistance | 5/10 — Moderate — intrinsically brittle, but textile forms are proven in abrasion/impact service and micrometeoroid Whipple shields. |
| Electrical / thermal conductivity | 1/10 — Very low — high electrical resistance and low thermal conductivity. |
| Specific tensile strength | 2/10 — 2/10 | 613.3 kN·m/kg | Product TDS |
| Atmospheric durability | 9/10 — Excellent — oxide ceramic fibers are essentially unaffected by UV and ambient moisture; attack is mainly associated with severe chemical or high-temperature environments. |
| Sustainability (CO₂e) | 6/10 — 12.00 kg CO₂e/kg fiber — Medium emissions — data quality: Low |
Technical properties
| Tensile strength | 1840.0 MPa |
|---|---|
| Tensile modulus | 190.0 GPa |
| Density | 3.0 g/cm³ |
Applications and processing
Aerospace; thermal structures; CMC; PMC; MMC; high-temperature structural reinforcementPMC and MMC preform manufactureWeaving; braiding; CMC
Other grades from 3M
- Nextel 312 Ceramic Roving 100 tex / 400 filaments 400
- Nextel 312 Ceramic Roving 133 tex / 750 filaments 750
- Nextel 312 Ceramic Roving 200 tex / 750 filaments 750
- Nextel 312 Ceramic Roving 400 tex / 1375 filaments 1375
- Nextel 312 Ceramic Roving 67 tex / 400 filaments 400
- Nextel 440 Ceramic Roving 222 tex / 750 filaments 750