- 22 July 2008 -
Composite tug boat
TUG BOAT manufacturer Nordic Tugs® of Burlington, Washington, USA,
is making composite tug boat cruisers for the pleasure boat market.
The hulls are built with solid laminates in open moulds. After applying a gel coat and vinyl ester skin coat, layers of fibre glass reinforcing materials are built in layers with AOC’s Altek® H834-R Series unsaturated polyester resin.
“Wetting is very important to our process, and the AOC product wets out our 32-ounce stitched material very well,” says Brian Flemming, lamination manager at Nordic Tugs. “AOC has provided us with a consistent, quality product from truck-load to truck-load. This consistency contributes to our overall quality and durability.”
The tug boats’ deck laminates are also made in open moulds and encapsulate urethane foam cores in strategic locations to add stiffness and reduce weight. Tops, soles, and in two of the models the bulkheads, are made using the resin infusion process.
AOC based in Collierville, Tennessee, USA, designed the Altek H834-R Series to incorporate dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) technology to achieve a low-styrene, low-profile resin. The series offer “exceptional” processability and complies with US Environmental Protection Agency standards, which call for less than 35% styrene content.
Compared to conventional orthophthalic polyesters, the H834-R Series is said to provide lower process emissions, faster cure rates, higher heat distortion temperatures, and smoother surface finishes.
Nordic Tugs are used by charter fleets in the US, Canada and British Virgin Islands, with the largest charter fleet in Alaska.
AOC; www.aoc-resins.com
Nordic Tugs; www.nordictugs.com
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