SP to Showcase Engineering and Expertise at IBEX Show 2008

SP, the marine business of Gurit, has announced that it will be exhibiting a selection of its marine composite products and engineering solutions at this year’s IBEX Boat Show in Florida.

Taking place at the Miami Beach Convention Center from Monday 6 to Wednesday 8 October 2008, SP will be exhibiting its renowned composite technologies on Stand 2129.

Offering complete composite solutions for luxurious superyachts through to offshore race boats, SP is the supplier of choice of composite materials and technical engineering solutions for leading boat builders the world over. The products developed by SP, coupled with their technical support, have become an integral part of some of the most innovative and exciting boats on the water. Vessels with SP technology not only stand out from the crowd, but also the competition.

Jean Pierre Mouligne, SP Marine Sales Manager North America, said: “SP products and technology enable boats to be built with a lighter, stronger structure – allowing them to be faster and more fuel efficient. Our involvement designing the most highly engineered composite structures such as those used in America Cup boats, Volvo and Open 60 Ocean racing boats, allows us to bring our expertise and experience in weight saving and design efficiency to the forefront of the boat industry. Many composite structures are crude and overweight, and there are huge savings to be realised using smart engineering and materials.”

In addition to its Corecell™ range of structural foam materials, SP will be heavily promoting T-Paste 70-1 at the show. In partnership with Graco, SP will present live demonstrations of its latest generation epoxy tooling paste, T Paste 70-1, using a Graco DC-12 tooling paste dispensing system.

Epoxy tooling paste allows for quick build-up without emissions, very low shrink and accurate dimension – which can save time and money in plug making as well as one-off moulds. The demonstrations are scheduled to take place outdoors daily at 11.00am and 3.00pm in demo area 4.

Information about other SP products including Ampreg 21 Epoxy Wet Laminate System, Spabond adhesives and Spabond 540 PB high-performance modified epoxy adhesive will also be available – as will SP engineers to answer any questions and enquiries.
 

About SP Products

Tooling Paste for Marine Plugs

T-Paste 70-1 can be used with a range of mixing machines and has been formulated to give excellent application and CNC machining properties.  The product gives a high-quality surface finish, which significantly reduces the finishing times for large patterns and direct moulds. The high toughness and excellent adhesion of T-Paste 70-1 to High Density Expanded Polystyrene (HD EPS) make this product ideal for customers and sub-contract tooling companies who require a cost-effective and robust solution for pattern/mould production.

T-Paste 70-1 is complemented by the unique T-Paste 70-1 repair product,  which provides a seamless repair and same performance for patterns produced using T-Paste 70-1, ensuring that the repairs are not visible on the pattern surface and will not print on the mould surface.

Corecell™ A / Corecell™ T Foam

Corecell™ A Foam has been specifically designed for hulls and other dynamically loaded structures. Extreme resistance to impact, slamming and fatigue make it the safest core available. Superior styling, excellent styrene and heat-resistance properties set it apart from the other ductile core materials.

 

For super structures, decks and interiors SP has created Corecell™T Foam, ideal for use with prepregs and liquid infusion processes where high resin temperatures are common. Corecell™T Foam offers stability, outstanding chemical resistance and has the advantage of being suitable for any manufacturing process common to PVC and balsa cores. A smooth finish makes it ideal for use on both racing boats and superyachts where style and performance are a vital necessity.

Spabond Adhesives

Spabond 540 PB is a high-performance, modified epoxy adhesive designed for bonding large production boats. The adhesive is formulated to bond polyester and is easy to use, has increased working times and consistently provides a high strength and durable bond to a variety of substrates in the production environment.

Epoxy Wet Laminate Systems

Ampreg 21 has been optimised for the manufacture of large composite structures using hand layup, and vacuum bagging techniques.

 

The relatively low initial mixed viscosity of Ampreg 21 allows easy wetout of heavyweight reinforcements and has been formulated to offer a good Health and Safety product.

Ampreg 21 has been designed to give excellent mechanical and thermal properties from both ambient temperature cures and moderate temperature postcures (50°C). The system is available with a range of hardener speeds, from Fast to Extra Slow.

Prepreg Materials

SE84 is a toughened system and offers excellent mechanical properties on a wide variety of reinforcing fabrics and fibres. With its high compressive strength it is widely used in large, heavily loaded components, such as yacht hulls and spars. SE84LV is an exceptionally versatile hot-melt, epoxy prepreg. It can be cured at temperatures as low as 80°C, or it can be used for faster moulding of components at 120°C. This is achieved with an extremely good outlife of up to 56 days at 21°C.

Gurit Engineering

SP’s expertise in the production boat market can often be overlooked in favour of the high profile racing boats which utilise their products and extensive engineering knowledge. It comes as no surprise that SP’s materials and engineering know how has been integral in the development of production boats. With materials to suit every type of build and budget SP are able to supply products and engineering expertise to the production end of the market in a cost effective and well supported manner.