Use Case: Marine: Coextruded Bow Doors & Hatches Seal for Work Boats
Client: A major workboat OEM
Solution: Seal-Fast Seal EPDM D3-002-011
Background
“Workboat” is a general description and covers many many types of boats. I added a list at the bottom to show the vast array of possibilities in this field. However they are most widely used in include coastal and inland waterways, shipyards, tugs/towing, offshore energy service vessels, and increasingly transfer vessels for the emerging offshore wind power sector.
Our client was a top U.S.-based workboat OEM who focused on fire/rescue, military law enforcement, marine surveying, and towing. They constantly strive to maximize crew safety and boat performance in good or extreme weather.
Problem
High performance under tough conditions is critical. Components have to perform. In cases like rescue boats, the standard for safety is very high as failure can threaten the integrity of the boat and the lives of those on board. Marine workboats have to endure pretty constant saltwater immersion, UV exposure as well as spills of materials consumed or used onboard.
- Bow doors & deck hatches are critical to the workboat integrity. Water ingress must be prevented at all costs.
- The seals previously being used on their equipment were a composite seal made from a PVC carrier and an EPDM bulb that were bonded together.
- These door and hatch seals were sticking together when crew members opened them. This caused the EPDM bulb to be stripped from the PVC carrier as the bonding joint was a weak point and quite often was also weakened by both saltwater immersion and UV exposure. Ripped seals meant water could get into the boat. This needed a priority fix.
Solution
They came to DTi as they knew we are seal and wire protection experts …. and more to the point we had the answer which was to use Seal-Fast EPDM D3-002-011 for the door and deck hatch seals.
- Co-Extrusion: Seal-Fast EPDM is a co-extrusion which means the carrier and bulb are molded as one piece so there is no weak joint line and the previously seen stripping does not happen.
- UV resistant: EPDM material does not break down under UV and has been weather tested by DTi – it is a very well-known property of EPDM. EPDM simply performs better than PVC and Silicone in these conditions.
- It also complies with the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) safety standards.
- Trim-Fast S6-010-S01 was also used to safely protect the ¼” thick panel deck hatch edge – again for operator safety as those edges can be quite sharp.
Find out more about Seal-Fast EPDM seals
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List of Types of Work Boats (alphabetically)
Anchor-handling tug/supply vessel (AHTS), articulated tug-barge (ATB), ASD tug, autonomous vessel, barge, charter boat, crew boat, crew-supply boat (crew-supplier), crew transfer vessel (CTV), cruise vessel (overnight cruise vessel), dinner boat, duck boat (DUKW), dive boat, drillship, excursion vessels, ferry, fireboat, emergency response vessel, hybrid tug, icebreakers, integrated tug-barge (ITB), lift boat, light construction vessel (LCV), minesweeper, mini-supply boat (mini-supplier), mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU, multipurpose supply vessel (MPSV), offshore service vessel (OSV), offshore supply vessel (OSV), oil spill recovery vessel (OSRV), patrol boats, platform supply vessel (PSV), pleasure boat (excursion boat), push boat or towboat, research vessels, rescue boat, response boat-medium (RBM), rigid hull inflatable boat (RIB), riverboat cruise vessel, roll on/roll off vessel (RO/RO), sister ship, sternwheeler (paddle wheeler), standby-rescue boat, supply boat, surf boat, tour boat, tractor tug, tugboat (tug), utility boat, whale-watcher, wind farm support vessel (WFSV), Z-drive towboat, Z-drive tug.
