Luxury motor yacht manufacturer Sunseeker has used adhesive technology from Hexcel for the resin infusion of its new performance cruiser.
The Predator 50 is reportedly the first of the Sunseeker yachts to be built with this composite technology and will use Hexcel’s HiMax dot pattern adhesive (DPA) range. Sunseeker has also implemented a range of HiMax fabrics in the Predator 50, including quadaxials and 0/45 biaxials, with the dot pattern adhesive on one or both sides of the fabric.
According to the company, the DPA reinforcements come pre-tacked for ease of laying up multiple fabrics in preparation for infusion and designed to provide an improved level of tack whilst minimising additional weight. They also eliminate the need for a spray adhesive, reducing the risk of inconsistent application, contamination and excess weight. The DPA fabrics have a controlled level of adhesive applied by machine in dots across the whole fabric, weighing 3g/sqm.
‘The HiMax DPA products can be used in a wide variety of marine applications,’ said Hexcel sales engineer for the marine sector, Garth Thomas. ‘The non-crimp construction of the range, the option to integrate different infusion cores and the availability of multi-stack fabrics help reduce the time to market.’
This story uses material from Hexcel, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
