Plascore_MarineSolutions
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Marine Solutions Aquidneck - Bristol, Rhode Island Faster on the Water and the Shop Floor Plascore Nomex® Honeycomb Reduces Manpower, Weight Bill Koffler credits hard work'.' Located in Bristol, Rhode Island, Aquidneck Composites boasts a growing project portfolio tending toward high-end boats, ranging from smaller rowing vessels to sleek, world- class catamaran stretching 20 meters or more. Bill's boat building crew is skilled at blending form and function through the use of technology Three Little Birds, a sleek 11-meter trimaran designed by Dave Welworth, was constructed from uni-directional S Glass with Plascore Nomex® honeycomb used as the hull core, a change from traditional SAN (styrene acrylonitrile) foam. 'We've had excellent results on the shop floor and on the water using Nomex® honeycomb core in bulkheads." Nomex® Does The Work Made of aramid fiber, Nomex® honeycomb is typically used in racing boats for its high stiffness-to-weight ratio; its extremely light, with high temperature stability for both wet preg and pre-preg applications. Lighter and stiffer than any foam available, Nomex® is a great partner for thermoset epoxies. When bonded, the aramid fiber material has exceptional shear strength and 'does the work' of carrying the shear load of the sandwich, freeing the engineer to create sleek, lightweight designs. "Nomex® honeycomb lets us really push performance," says Bill. "Just do the basic math; if we're switching from 5# ft3 foam to 4# ft3 honeycomb, then we reduced core weight by 20%. On top of that, the structure is stronger and the boat is faster with better impact resistance for real world performance." Precision Fit, Drapes Easily Curved surfaces, such as boat molds, are best suited for overexpanded Nomex® honeycomb, which drapes easily in the direction of the overexpanded core cell. The wide cell makes it easy to lay the composite in the mold without fighting core memory and the need for continual trimming associated with foam cores. Out of the mold, Nomex® fairing is dimensionally uniform; the crew can immediately lay in S Glass without refairing core seams, a tedious, dusty and time- consuming process required of SAN foam. The high shear strength properties of Nomex® core combined with S Glass rivals the strength of carbon fiber and foam without the harshness or noise on the water.This is especially critical on long voyages, where pilot fatigue and crew

Save Weight and Cost with Plascore PP Honeycomb Infusion Grade Recent trials at a leading boat manufacturer compared balsa cored sandwich structures in Lite RTM processes for small and medium sized parts to Plascore PP Honecomb - Infusion Grade cored sandwich structures in the same closed molding process. The results showed a comparable flexural rigidity in structural performance along with a 30% weight savings with cost and availability benefits. The same matched tool and Lite RTM process was utilized to build up %"T sandwich panel test coupons with y32"T gel coated finish both sides for...

PP Honeycomb Receives Lloyds Register ■y:-"T"~ Plascore PP Honeycomb has received a pLlOyQS Lloyds Register Certificate of Approval of IxG^ÍStGr a Core Material. Lloyds Register Approval provides verification of a product considered acceptable for use in constructions built under Lloyds' Register's survey and helps ensure an appropriate level of product performance. The approval is recognized and valued in marine, offshore and other composite sandwich applications. Faster on the Water and the Shop Floor (cont.) saturates the glass fiber while eliminating resin-rich voids that pattern-cut...

Westerly Marine - Santa Ana, California Fast, Sleek, Graceful Under Sail... it Must be Westerly Westerly Marine is a custom builder of high performance, advanced composite, racing and cruising boats. Meticulous attention to detail in all areas of construction and dedication to making every boat strong, light and of the highest quality assure total customer satisfaction. Founded in 1970 by owners Lynn Bowser and Steve Lee, Westerly caters to the serious racer and performance cruiser, both power and sail. The company's work, aside from providing breathtaking handling and performance, has won...