Fiberglass vs Aluminum

Fullboar boats Australia talks about fiberglass and does some destructive testing with fiberglass and aluminum to see which one is better for the application and ease of repair. Also has some foam core vacuum infusion at the end.

I uploaded this because I get allot of grief from people(not youtubers) saying fiberglass is weak and brittle. The video is a an extract from a info DVD my supplier gave to me, Fiberglass International.


http://www.fgi.com.au/
http://www.fullboarboats.com/

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• aluminium
• aluminum
• fiberglass
• fiberglassing
• boats
• fullboar
• strenght
• testing
• australian
• impact
• test
• structural
• vacuum

[hoppermantis]

Why not have both?? i heard about it once, but for the life of me i cant remember the name. I had thought it was called "flare material" however unable to see a mention of it on the web. anyone hear of this material ??

[punk28186]

@hoppermantis Yeah they do use both in hibrid composites like in the new a380.

[JayTee441]

Ha Ha there are hundreds of thousands of aluminum boats in the world, and also aircraft.. If that were a problem, we'd know about it. Duh.

[punk28186]

@JayTee441 This is because composites are newer technology with newer breakthroughs. It has only recently broken through aluminum in strength/weight.

[30GB]

id go with fiberglass any day because it can flex, its stronger than aluminum and easy to repair

[punk28186]

spot on mate

[nationalwidget]

Aluminum boats are much lighter. Less fuel, easier towing and launching, more durable. If I ever damage mine, I'll just have a miserable wretch like punk28186 repair it.

[GasserGlass]

Fiberglass is over 80 times stronger then aluminum and lighter too...Wont Dent, Wont Crack or warp if done right!...PERIOD!

[hamza3608]

@SMBMWE30

This is the exact reason fiberglass is so popular, the repair process. Very cheap and easy to repair vs welding aluminum as you can't use any welder for alum...

If you puncture a hull, you can pull over to the nearest dock/beach and repair the area with a repair kit (~$30) to get you back safely.

[asyouaskforit]

I thought I saw the fiberglass broke in the test, and there is no hole?? Anyway, If it is a question of sinking why not get a aluminium multi-chambered boat. It is much lighter than a foam filled fiberglass boat.

[djfunkychicken]

i'd like to see some of these tests done on the 'polycraft' plastic boats. i'm looking at getting a boat and as a novice i don't understand why the plastic boat has taken off as it has proven to be much stronger yet lighter than fibreglass.. someone fill me in

[SMBMWE30]

In that drop test, the fiberglass failure will likely leak nearly as much as the aluminum example, with the entire boat taking water through out the glass, ruining the entire boat.

Vs pound the dent out, and weld it up for the aluminum example.

[spudsky100]

@JayTee441

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner is almost an all composite aircraft. The F-35 and F-22 are also almost all composite. They are all lighter, stronger, and are more fuel efficient than aluminum or steel built aircraft. Aluminum is also noisier than composite, so trying to be stealthy around fish like bonefish is not going to get a fisherman very far in catching one.

[spudsky100]

@nadoeloiskat

That's actually not true. The cost of aluminum exceeds fiberglass pound for pound by leaps and bounds. The cost of manufacturing is also less with fiberglass. With an aluminum boat, if made like the one in this video, would take about one and a half weeks. The boat in the video took about 4 days.