Adzel...real world benefits? Drawbacks?

RoyGBivUV wrote:
I've seen a few manufacturers tout the use of Adzel, which appears to be a world of improvement over marine grade wood in terms of weight. What real-world benefits does that translate into? Any drawbacks?

I figure a natural benefit might be in opening up some tow vehicle options...How significant of a jump in weight is it? Are we talking about shaving off a 1000+ lbs, or is it more like marketing fluff?

Does it make a dent in terms of towing fuel efficiency I would imagine the largest factor in that is drag, and that would be more directly related to frontal surface area vs. weight.

Insulation-wise, what's the actual *difference* in R-value compared to plywood? Sailcloth canvas?

It doesn't strike me as a substantial material from a structural perspective, which means the blocking and structural elements used at corners & edges need to be something else, yes? As a flooring material...where all the millwork gets nailed down into...I've got to imagine that it's not the best choice unless alot of work goes into blocking out structural elements under it or inlayed in the material.

A few more of my thoughts, a little more directly realted to the OP's questions. To my knowledge, I have not seen mention of it's use in RV's in places where it would replace marine grade wood. If there is marine grade wood being used in the construction of a RV, it's generally as flooring, typically 5/8" marine grade plywood. The use of azdel sheets that I have seen mentioned is in sidewall construction, and perhaps roof sheeting.

I agree with your point about aerodynamics being the biggest contributor to fuel efficiency, so from a practical standpoint, I would not expect to see an improvement in that performance from saving a few hundred pounds in trailer weight.

Regarding how the azdel forms part of the structure, I think what they are doing is simply using it as part of the laminate assembly of the wall. It becomes part of the assembly by virtue of the fact an adhesive holds it to the other components of the wall assembly. In that way, structurally, it is no different that other methods/materials used in a wall assembly.

One problem the adhesives industry has struggled with over the years is developing effective solutions to maintain the adhesive bond to thermoplastic materials. One of the advantages of thermoplastic is that it can be molded easily when heated to a crtical temperature. Part of how it does that is by having resins that retain flexibilty. This goes back to my earlier comment about the out gassing, or "drying out" if you will of these components over time. As these oils migrate to the surface, the can and sometimes do break the molecular bond that is the adhesive force holding the product to it's lamainate partner.

If you look at the advertising blurbs about azdel, you will see the mention of some cars that used it in recent year for headliners, and similar. Probably a very good solution for that kind of app, because it was molded into shape, and then mechanically locked into position with clips and carefully designed positioning relative to other parts of the structure.