Adzel...real world benefits? Drawbacks?
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 draw...
Forum Discussion
Gdetrailer posted the Azdel manufacturing process in an earlier post.
"LWRT is manufactured using a modified paper making process originally developed in the U.K by Arjo Wiggins. The process involves mixing chopped reinforcing fibers, thermoplastic resin powder, and additives into an aqueous slurry (looks like shaving foam,) that is then deposited onto a conveyerized mesh belt. Vacuum then extracts the moisture from the system prior to the material entering a drying oven. Essentially what is created is a fiber reinforced thermoplastic foam with very low specific weight, typically in the 0.2 to 0.8 range, but with a very high stiffness to weight ratio.
After the material exits the drying oven, and while it is still hot, it is run through a lamination phase that performs several functions including, reducing the thickness to improve the bonding of the resin and the glass fibers (wet-out,) and cooling the resin to lock the glass-fibers in place. Also at this time, any scrims, fabrics, or films that might be required for the specific application are added to the outer surfaces of the LWRT core material."
"LWRT is manufactured using a modified paper making process originally developed in the U.K by Arjo Wiggins. The process involves mixing chopped reinforcing fibers, thermoplastic resin powder, and additives into an aqueous slurry (looks like shaving foam,) that is then deposited onto a conveyerized mesh belt. Vacuum then extracts the moisture from the system prior to the material entering a drying oven. Essentially what is created is a fiber reinforced thermoplastic foam with very low specific weight, typically in the 0.2 to 0.8 range, but with a very high stiffness to weight ratio.
After the material exits the drying oven, and while it is still hot, it is run through a lamination phase that performs several functions including, reducing the thickness to improve the bonding of the resin and the glass fibers (wet-out,) and cooling the resin to lock the glass-fibers in place. Also at this time, any scrims, fabrics, or films that might be required for the specific application are added to the outer surfaces of the LWRT core material."
