HOW STRONG IS ALUULA? | ALUULA VS DACRON LOAD TEST

In this video I pitted some lightweight Aluula "Gold" material against some Dimension Polyant Dacron in a head to head tensile load and tear propagation test. This test shows the strength and the weight of the new Aluula material compared to the standard Dacron materials typically used on kiteboarding kites.
The Aluula Gold is designed to be a lightweight and strong composite material used for building the air-frames of kiteboarding and kitesurfing kites that are traditionally made of heavier Dacron materials.
Footage: Ana Myerscough
Music: Good Day - Parallel Attitude

[@andrewgregoryhansen1209]

Hey, great video. One suggestion as a physicist, I might perform your tests with samples which are cut to smaller widths than the clamps. It appears from the failure of the ALUULA sample that the clamp edges might either be cutting into the fabric due to small angle differences at high loads, from the result of extreme differential shearing along the clamp edges. Mentally visualizing the warp/weft grid of the weave, on the load side of the clamp edge you can imagine the load inducing uniaxial deformation, such that the grid squares become more and more rectangular as they grow increasingly elongated and increasingly thin. Further away on the outside of the clamp edge, the grid will remain closer, geometrically-speaking, to their original square shapes. Along that boundary, however, the weave will deform into an increasingly extreme diamond-like pattern, the localization of extreme changes in grid shapes. This is not completely unlike the sphagettification resulting from the extreme differential effects of gravity around black holes). This nonuniform stress on each column in the weave probably vastly exceeds the readout on your machine, as the load essentially becomes focused on those minute regions surrounding the clamp edges. This is why the rip clearly occurs along those columnar boundaries. Its worth noting that it’s not as if nonuniform stresses aren’t more realistic in a variety of real-world situations, but for the purpose of more accurate and precise measurement worth re-testing with fabric cut to a width less than the clamps if you want to meet ASTM regulations. If you email ALUULA, I’m sure they’d provide you with a spec sheets with results from various ASTM tests, as a heuristic your results shouldn’t be far off, as they test multiple times to determine values that are of maximum likelihood.

[@gertjanhakkers]

That took away just about all my reservations regarding the material. Awesome job!

[@dpwild328]

You do all kinds of shedding on your channel 🤙🏽

[@reeces_shredlab]

Oh Ya! :)

[@k2thiago]

That was a very satisfying video for a nerd kitesurfer like me!

[@yountune9799]

SSSSSTTTTTOOOOOPPPPP teasing us already. Ship the kites we pre-ordered and paid for already!

[@NB-ph6cv]

I'm interested to see the reaction of the aluula material on sharp objects, like when the kite is pumped and it scratches or touches sharp objects, whats the damage done by it.

[@TaoPhotographie]

That's wath we call a test 👌

[@Rick_Cavallaro]

Those are pretty compelling tests. Would like to know how well it handles UV. And of course the abrasion results would also be good to know.

[@dustinoflynn]

Agreed. Would like to see this kinds of tests from all brands.

[@pirkashow42]

Me too

[@QRWASUPER]

Nice test! Subed

[@reeces_shredlab]

Thanks!

[@seand0000]

awesome man, good to see practical evidence of this stuff. All I heard for the past year is that it's 10 times stronger and twice as light. well It's twice as strong according to your video which is still great. So far the advantages I see are mostly for low wind kiting, and for people crashing kites a lot. If you are into big air and never crash your kite, what are the added benefits? any benefits re the handling of the kite?

[@reeces_shredlab]

Thanks! From my experience I find the Aluula air frames make the kites waayyy more responsive and "connected" to the rider. You get immediate feedback from the kites and the kites respond to any inputs that you make (turning, sheeting) much faster than standard built air frames. Basically if you know what you are doing you can whip the kite around much faster and generate a ton of power.

[@archistro5402]

Hello sean davoust I would just like to clarify a point about the fiber resistance :) It is twice as strong for the same surface, but it's usually more representative to compare for the same weight. If we double the weight, we can assume that there would be twice more fibers bearing the load. Each fiber sees a stress equal to the total load divided by the total number of fibers. The breaking stress would then be reached for twice the load that showed during the test. So an estimated 2*465 = 930 for the tensile test which is about 4 times the breaking load for the Dacron, for a weight of about 156-157 grams. Still far from '10 times stronger' though!

[@Droanly]

Where can I buy this fabric?

[@DerKnallvonNullgegenUnendlich]

Thanks for the video. Do you know what material the fibers of the fabric aluula gold are made of? Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything on the Aluula homepage.🤔 Thanks! Best regards!

[@reeces_shredlab]

Hey, It's UHMW fibers.

[@jkite4775]

Nice demo video Reece! I want to try foiling with the Aluula roam 6m in 10 knots :) keep it up

[@reeces_shredlab]

Thanks Jacob! Im sure you will get the chance to try one haha

[@hamzafaris4199]

Good bro

[@reeces_shredlab]

Thanks dude!

[@Boogie1929]

Dynea Tex ? Are you test ?

[@GOGGanaroGanar]

vs Penta TX?

[@bernardkriel1]

...so if you make a kite from this "aluula" stuff..then its never gonna break last for ever?

[@1Dubroller]

Try it in -20c

[@robertovillate]

I am not surprised about the test results and think the fabric is amazing and the kites are amazing as well. I own several Roam-A's which I enjoy immensely, however I have had numerous issues with construction and material breakdown. Several kites were simply built wrong and don't fly right, some had bladder issues, and some have what appears to be a breakdown in the fabric, mostly on the leading edge where by appearance the laminate has "cracked" perpendicular to the tangen of the leading edge curvature. How is this going to play out with respect to strength and logevity of the kites? I have asked more times than I care to tell you about what my options are to solve this problem and to be honest quite disappointed. I am just trying to be honest about it and I feel like I had been patient about seeking a resolution. I have been kiting for 20+ years and owned lots of kites over that time and have never seen a situation like this before. I imagine you are aware of it...pretty much everyone in the insdustry seems to be. What are your thoughts about it?

[@reeces_shredlab]

Hey Roberto, You're referring too the gold layer on the Aluula material cracking? Fortunately the gold layer is only there as an extra layer of UV protection. The strength and performance of the Aluula material comes from the base weave. Other than cosmetics, any cracking or flaking on the gold layer will have no effect on the strength or performance of the material. The base layer of Aluula is very UV resistant to begin with, and you'll notice on the new Aeris-x Aluula material, the gold layer is not even present. The gold is only there on the premium Aluula as an extra, extra layer of UV protection. The Gold layer may become cracked over time and use, but compared to the other materials present on the kite, such as the ripstop canopy, it will maintain its performance exponentially better.

[@robertovillate]

@@reeces_shredlab Hi Reese, thanks for the reply. I just typed a fairly long and detailed response but then i moved the cursor to some spot that cause the whole message to delete . I will try to reply again soon in detail.

[@vikingh3008]

What’s the verdict 2 years on ? Anyone had one of the first kites that came on that could give us some feedback on how they hold up in the real world with regards to uv, sand on the beach etc

[@thiagonferreira1310]

Not good, own one for 3 years and the folding creases on the alula leading edge are starting to tear...

[@hansvandertoorn6930]

Well, i think there are many kiters who don't have those problems. So to say that it is not good because you have this problems means not that much.....

[@Nilz4FR]

The Dacron has more ink on it! Come on brother!

[@kiternews]

is it GSM or grams?

[@reeces_shredlab]

gsm. Grams per square meter of material. I won't use caps on that part next time haha.

[@kiternews]

Reece's Shred Lab thanks I couldn’t figure out what it meant

[@aloharowervideos9965]

It doesn’t tear after it gets a pin hole, but that pin hole…

[@MyFirstReurveBow]

you are not comparing it to anything.. what's the point..

[@gusbisbal9803]

the fluro yellow is dacro, the yellow is Aluula... what do you mean they are not comparing it to anything

[@ericmnr]

The problem is that a kite with that material is to expensive.

[@FlukesKitesurfing]

wait till you try the kites tho! Next level..

[@GurvanR]

Nice playmobil haircut 😁

[@reeces_shredlab]

Hahaha, haven't heard that one yet!

[@tiesto213]

could you repeat the test but now with correct tensile specimen shapes please? Right now your test is a bit invalid since stress concentrations form around the clamps. Please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensile_testing for some basic info

[@reeces_shredlab]

Hey Elon, yes stress concentrations build up around the edges of the clamps, but as long as the material samples are the same shape and are mounted in the same way it's a pretty fair test. This was more of a quick comparison rather than a full on lab test and the stress concentrations should be building up in the same spot for both materials. When I do more tests in the future I will try to decrease the stress concentrations along the mounts by shaping the samples differently. Thanks for the feedback!

[@tiesto213]

Reece's Shred Lab, Cool Thanks! I’m looking forward to those tests.

[@nurlatifahmohdnor8939]

Same like Harith hair today. Cut short. His father delay cutting it. When he is small I cut his hair by myself. I cut all my boys hair by myself when they are young. I even cut my own hair when I was a teenager which my mom do not like I do so. Zouave = [C19: from F, from Zwawa, tribal name in Algeria] Page 1397