Boat Made With Carbon Nanotube Prepreg

I must remember to check back on these guys as we are building our 54-footer with the same time frame. It will be three times more heavy, which is still very light...

I don't know, while light gets you high cruise and top speeds, I'm not sold on it when the seas kick up.

Brian,

Nanotubes??????

Am I being a bit thick here or not?

Are the micro tubes long and thin like penne pasta from a machine or short and chopped?

Does the pre-preg fill the voids within the tubes?

How nano is nano, are there structural fibers within the tubes?

Sorry, you've lost me on this one.

Fish

And with single wall nanotubes selling for up to $1500 per gram these days I bet yours will be a lot more affordable as well

Was curious how they made a fabric out of short (10-15u) tubes and found this neat picture showing how the short tubes are gathered and spun into a continuous fiber.

Which is probably the reason why these guys are focusing on miltary applications initially...

So, I guess that the hull really is the biggest place to save weight.
Michael Peters designed a 48 footer that came in at 14,000 lbs. He called it a Ultra Light Displacement boat. Not so light now huh?
I wonder, is the 540SE a displacement, semi, or planning hull? The stresses would vary tremendously. Durability and toughness may be the sticking point.

AMG, on a side note I was impressed by the weight figure you quoted on your 40 footer. Is this the same boat coming to America as the Nord Star?
Looks like it packed on a few new features (pounds).

The 540SE will cost $20 mill? No wait, $120 mill. Cool stuff.

No, the Nordstar is a Finnish boat. Similar concept, but their 40´is much heavier than ours. With the same 2 x D6/370 they have a top speed around 38 knots and our D40 is doing up to 47 knots.

Marmot, Nice pics. Looks like the strands are being pulled from the edge of a block of vertically oriented nano tubes. The question is why do they stick together? Are they fuzzy?

The nano tube boat is pre-preg, does this means that they mechanically work resin into fabric before the layup? I have read that this is lighter than SCRIMP.
So no mater the fabric type, that would be the best method? It probably only works with post cure epoxy.

This has been done with regular carbon but Immagine sitting on a nano tube toilet seat! Would it feel cold like metal? The heat capacity maybe lower than metal, it might warm up so fast that you don't feel the cold.

Way off in the deep end...

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/03/a-tangle-of-nanotubes-in-your-roof-for-insulation.ars

http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-...upports-8000-Times-Its-Own-Weight-55004.shtml

The aerogel supporting a brick picture is really interesting.

Finally read the boat link

What I got from it was that they are using conventional fabrics like carbon fibre and mixing nanotubes into the resin. During the wetting out, the nanotubes become part of the fabric improving strength. This is not so far out. They can use nanotube "super resin" with almost any material and may find its way to your slip soon.
At a projected speed of 50 mph, this things a screamer. Just think about a coastal cruiser built with this stuff.

Thinking about the nanotube resin. Why does it improve strength?
Well, go back to the beginnings of fiberglass construction. The strength comes from the fibers and the resin just holds the fibers in place. By reducing the resin used (vacuum bagging) strength was improved. Then SCRIMP and pre-preg technology, all aimed at reducing the void space between the fibres.
Even though the space may be filled with resin, it's not as strong as the fiber areas.
Enter the nanotube, it is small enough to fill or fit into the gaps between fibers without disrupting the fibers position or orientation. Insto-presto, more strength!
So here is the light bulb question-- What other materials can be made into small whiskers from micro fibers. Maybe not nano level but available now at a reasonable cost that could be added to resin and produce a stronger, lighter layup?

Aluminum, Aluminum oxide, Aluminum silica
Asbestos
Beryllium, Beryllium carbide, Beryllium oxide
Carbon (Graphite)
Glass (E-glass, S-glass, D-glass)
Molybdenum
Polyamide (Aromatic polyamide, Aramid), e.g., Kevlar 29 and Kevlar 49
Polyester
Quartz (Fused silica)
Steel
Tantalum
Titanium
Tungsten, Tungsten monocarbide

These are also used in concrete for the same reasons.

Thanks to: http://www.efunda.com/formulae/solid_mechanics/composites/comp_FRC_intro.cfm

Well, I think asbestos is off the list. Hey, my boat is a superfund site!
The metals can go too, not light enough.
Anything that is slippery or rounded like molybdenum-great lubricant! can go too.
We are left with carbon, the glasses and kevlar.
What about the fibers being used in lines and sails? Or is that a form of polyester or Kevlar? Spectra?
Then we have to talk about wet-ability and compatability with the main fabric.
In industrial apps we used a lot of stuff with epoxy. fused silica, glass beads.probly asbestos. Mostly we were changing the thickness and sagg properties.

If you wanna learn something more about these materials, you can visit for example here. Truth be told it is really challenging and interesting concept. On the other hand there are already companies and means to create carbon nanotubes (and other materials for that matter) efficiently and on a large scale. I believe that I have heard about one invention called nano-spider, that can "tailor" nanotubes structures in mass.