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Catalogue FOAMS CATALOGUE

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• How much vacuum we need?: depends of the sandwich thickness, of the mould size and its complexity, and of the resin viscosity. In general a thick sandwich would need more vacuum than a thin one, and a high viscose resin also more than a fluid one.

• Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM): Low pressure moulding process where the resin and the catalyst are injected in a closed mould containing the dry reinforcements or the previously shaped piece. When the resin is catalysed the mould can be opened and the finished component can be removed. This method involves steel moulds with process heating and automation (fibreglass moulds in LRTM option).

Advantages:

- Boat cleaner process for styrene emissions.

- Respect of worker's health and safety .

- Real reduction of working time.

- Moulds can be sized correctly.

- Possibility ofcomplex shapes inside mould .

- Uniformity ofthickness and fibre loading.

- Inserts may be incorporated into mould.

- Final piece quality is much better than spray up process.

- Components show a good surface on both sides, ready for the finishing process.

- Automatic process improve productivity rates

Inconveniences:

High initial infrastructure costs

Use of special core material. Due the high pressure inside mould we could find, the standard core collapse easily.

• Proper core installation: Poorly installed core allow water to enter the laminate, which may result in a saturated core as well as reduced laminate strength and durability. In order to avoid future problems there are four main requirements we must fulfil:

0 "Never bonds": Generally occur in hand lay-up, areas under the core during

construction never made direct contact with its bedding layer. If remain in laminate bad bonded they can blister badly when exposed to the heat ofthe sun and will collect water, especially if combined with an unfilled kerfs system. The use of vacuum infusion also eliminates those problems.

0 "Fill the kerfs": Kerfs both saw cut and boat knife cut, are required to convert the rigid sheet of core to a contourable material that will adapt itself to the compound curvatures found in boat decks and hulls. An unfilled kerfs system can reduce the strength of a laminate as well as act as a conduit to transmit water throughout the laminate. To improve the strength ofthe laminate and to prevent migration of water, it is recommended to fill the kerfs system. The absolute minimum requirement is filling the kerfs with catalyzed resin before the core is installed into the bedding layer of boat mat. Close mould processes such as vacuum infusion guarantee the filling of all kerfs and the eliminations of all voids. The crosswise grooves are key elements for the even resin flow during the infusion process. The micro- perforation through the thickness distributes the resin easily on both sides ofthe foam core.

C/Muntaner, 525 08022 Barcelona(Spain) Tel.+34 934 18 29 29 Fax.+34 934 18 54 71 plasticel@plasticel.es 20