Composite materials have been playing an important role in the boating industry since their inception. Composite material boats are becoming more and more popular because of their light weight, high strength, changeable shapes, strong designability, and beautiful and colorful appearance. Domestic and foreign countries attach great importance to the application of composite materials in ships, and high-tech competition is fierce.

So far, structures such as large and medium-sized hulls and superstructures mostly use fiberglass, while the load-bearing and functional structures of high-performance ships and important military vessels are gradually being made of advanced composite materials. The usage environment of composite boats is mainly concentrated in inland rivers and oceans. The aging and corrosive environments to which boats are subjected mainly focus on changes in humidity and heat, corrosion of water and seawater, and ultraviolet radiation.

At the same time, according to the existing construction technology of fishing boats, recreational yachts or high-speed cruise boats used for security, they are structures with a gelcoat outer protective layer and a fiberglass main body. Therefore, the aging of fiberglass boats is mainly concentrated in Aging of the gel coat protective layer and FRP main structure.

Today we will talk about gel coat and its application, and why boats must use m-phenylene neopentyl glycol gelcoat.

Although FRP does not rust or rot, like steel and wood products, its surface is often coated with a layer of substances that can meet its weather resistance, water resistance, corrosion resistance and other special performance requirements. Gel coat resin is the most commonly used One, the gel coat resin is sprayed on the surface of the mold before the fiberglass product is molded, and then after the molded product is demoulded, there is a layer of gel coat resin on the surface.

The gel coat resin layer on the surface of FRP is one of the anti-aging measures to improve the weather resistance and extend the service life of FRP products. Therefore, the quality of the gel coat resin itself is very important. This requires strict implementation of the gel coat layer construction process and gel coat layer Thickness control, and to ensure that the gel coat resin reaches a certain degree of curing and a certain Barcol hardness.

The following types of gel coats are commonly used: o-phenylene, m-phenylene glycol, m-phenylene neopentyl glycol, and vinyl gelcoat. Vinyl gelcoat is mostly used in fiberglass molds.

Gelcoat is composed of many raw materials, each of which may affect the appearance performance and UV resistance of the gel coat. The main components of gel coat are matrix resin, pigments and monomers. The most important part of the gel coat is the matrix resin. This is because the resin has the highest content in the gel coat formula and is the biggest influencer on the final performance of the gel coat. The choice of matrix resin is determined by the final performance requirements of the gel coat.

In the selection of pigments, the selection of raw materials is very important, such as titanium dioxide, because it is relatively expensive and is the most important pigment in white gel coats. It is a widely used white pigment. Compared with other white pigments, titanium dioxide has several advantages. With high UV resistance, choosing a good titanium dioxide can make the aging resistance of the gel coat have a high advantage in the competition.

During the use of fiberglass boats, the gelcoat is the interface most directly in contact with water and the atmosphere (moist heat, ultraviolet light irradiation). The evaluation laboratory for the aging of the gelcoat mainly relies on 90-degree boiling acceleration and weather resistance UV acceleration tests. , to examine the gloss retention rate, surface bubble condition and CMC AE color difference value of the gel coat before and after the experiment. We have conducted 90-degree accelerated water boiling and UV tests on gel coats with m-phenylene glycol, m-phenylene neopentyl glycol and mixed resin matrices. Judging from the experimental results, for gel coats, whether it is wet heat aging (80 degrees water Cooking simulation) or UV aging due to outdoor exposure, the isochenyl-neopentyl glycol type matrix is much better than ordinary isochenyl or mixed-type matrix.

Now everyone understands why some FRP fishing boats have become seriously discolored and very ugly less than half a year after leaving the factory, while some FRP fishing boats with m-phenylene neopentyl glycol gel coat are still as bright as new after decades after leaving the factory. Because many In order to reduce costs, fiberglass shipyards use low-quality gel coats. The secret to making the boats bright and beautiful lies in the use of long-life m-phenylene neopentyl glycol gel coat, because m-phenylene neopentyl glycol gel coat has excellent water resistance and The weather resistance and excellent curing properties make the color and gloss of the boat surface stable and long-lasting, making it the best choice for gel coats for fiberglass fishing boats! Each boat costs 3,500 more, but it may extend the service life of the fiberglass boat by several decades and make it look as bright as new. Why not?