[Public-List] Epoxy failure [was Steam bending Teak]

[Don Campbell]

As far as I have seen, the closest boat to the AL30 that is of modern 
construction is the C&C 99: 32 feet long, 9200 lbs, 540 sq ft sail area 
sleeps 4 racer/cruiser. Did you know the hull weighs only 750 lbs and is 
made with Proset epoxy that is heat  cured in a kiln? Just a thought for 
you to explore on stresses and creep. (Proset is one of Gougeon's 
commercial products that is  a development from WEST system). The other 
stress place that epoxies are used is in the blades for the big wind 
turbines. The epoxy blades do not fatigue the way metals do at the tips 
of the blades,  which are normally travelling at consistently over 120 
miles and up to 150 miles an hour all day every day without the 
advantage of moving ahead like a wing on a plane or a sail.
Don #528

Robert Kirk wrote:
>
>> Have you heard of any instances of failure due to creep of epoxy in
>> sailboat construction or repair?
>
> Haven't heard of anything, but I doubt if there's much use of epoxy 
> adhesive in loaded structural  things during boat construction, in 
> today's fiberglass boats. But, it's certain that it does creep under 
> load, so I just wouldn't use it to glue highly stressed laminated 
> beams together and expect them to retain their shape over many 
> years... Bob
>
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