Araldite Structural Adhesive Provides Shear Strength for Highly Loaded Marine Components

Patricia Albisser 30/11/2011

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Huntsman Advanced Materials has been working with Italian yacht maker PERSICO to build a pioneering new design of Volvo Open 70 racing yacht, for the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.

Built at PERSICO SpA, Nembro, in Italy, the ‘Abu Dhabi’ is a 70 foot long, ergonomic lightweight vessel, designed to weigh less and be more robust than other yachts in its class.

To achieve the super-high levels of component endurance and performance required to compete in some of the world’s longest and most demanding yacht races, PERSICO has used Araldite® AW4859 / Hardener HW4859, a high performance structural adhesive, to complete the yacht.

Araldite® AW4859 / Hardener HW4859 fixes together different highly loaded components, from bonding titanium fittings to the yacht’s carbon structure to assembling the hatch, rudder bearing sleeves and components, bow sprit, chain-plate, mast and keel structure. Another Huntsman adhesive, Araldite®420 A/B, is also used to bond many other details on the boat.

“We selected Araldite® AW4859 / Hardener HW4859 for its proven ability to deliver outstanding performance to marine applications. When it comes to delivering the exact levels of stiffness required to ensure the ‘Abu Dhabi’ performs well in racing conditions, Araldite® AW4859 / Hardener HW4859 is certainly living up to our expectations,” said Mark Somerville from PERSICO.

“We have been particularly impressed with its shear strength, coupled with its ability to withstand heavy loads, intensive strain and extreme conditions, as well as its bonding properties to the components and substrates on our racing yacht.”

Araldite® AW4859 / Hardener HW4859 is a new structural adhesive designed for composite bonding, which is also suitable for bonding dissimilar substrates such as metals or thermoplastics. The key features of this adhesive are the sag resistance, gap filling properties up to 4mm, high temperature resistance (140°C) and good moisture and chemical resistance. Araldite® AW4859 / Hardener HW4859 also exhibits outstanding fracture toughness and lap shear strengths up to 35 MPa on CFRP and GFRP.

This racing yacht will set the standard for component bonding in the marine industry.

Since the 1950s, from canoes to large luxury and competition boats, Huntsman Advanced Materials has been the partner of choice for designers and shipbuilders, offering materials that provide the super-high levels of component endurance and performance required to withstand the harshest environmental conditions at sea.
www.huntsman.com/advanced_materials

Patricia Albisser
Huntsman Advanced Materials (Switzerland) GmbH
K-401.5.77
Klybeckstrasse 200
CH-4057 Basel
Switzerland
Phone: +41-61-299 2664
Fax: +41-61-966 8130
Email: patricia_albisser@huntsman.com