Mechanical properties generally refer to compressive strength, delamination strength, point load strength and shear strength. No stone wool material will require all these strengths at the same time, for instance roof boards will require compressive and point load strength more importantly than the other strengths.
 
Each mechanical property has its unique contribution to the successful application of the stone wool materials in buildings. These properties are mainly contributed by the technological advancement of fibres arrangement in the right direction during the production process.
 
Hardrock roofing boards have a compressive strength of 80kPa which is 8000kg/m² to achieve 10% deformation, in other words we need 8000kg of load distributed over an area of 1m² in order to compress a 100mm thick product to 90mm.
 
Its point load is 700N, which is about 70kg to deform the product 5mm. Point load is an important criteria for choosing a roof board, especially when installed with waterproofing membranes. This is because when someone walks on the roofing boards, the person distributes a concentrated load from the heels of the shoes to the roofing boards or when someone pulls construction equipment, the concentrated load from the wheels of the equipment is being transferred to the boards.

Besides roofing boards, other types of products which may require mechanical properties are sandwich panel core and external façade insulation materials. The most important properties are the delamination and shear strength. Not all types of insulation products are suitable to be used for these applications as the insulation materials must be specifically made to withstand wind force.


Click here to read more about Roxul non-combustible core for firesafe sandwich panel.