E-glass Fiber Showed in IBEX 2015

International Boatbuilders’ Exhibition & Conference (IBEX) 2015 was held Sep. 14-16 in Louisville, KY. The show drew 4,700 attendees and 545 exhibitors, 110 of which were new to IBEX

COMPOSITE FABRICS OF AMERICA showed samples of new hybrid fabrics that not only offer toughness, but also truly unique aesthetics. The 2x2 twill at left features 3K carbon, aramid and E-glass fibers in a 7.3 oz (248 gsm) areal weight fabric while the 3K carbon fiber/Innegra S houndstooth at right is a 218 gsm fabric.

MAHOGANY COMPANY celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and highlighted its prefabricated sandwich panels made with a variety of skin materials, including carbon fiber, carbon fiber/E-glass hybrids and KEVLAR aramid fiber/E-glass hybrids. The panels can be cut to net-shape and kitted for boatbuilder use as doors, bulkheads, floors/soles and more. Panel skins most often feature quadraxial and biaxial noncrimp fabrics, but the company’s 4’ x 8’ and 5’ x 10’ presses are amenable to a wide range of materials, depending on customers’ needs for weight and labor savings. Renowned builder Viking Yachts is using lightweight composite panels from Mahogany in all of its models to reduce weight and boost performance.

Mahogany Company’s prefabricated composite sandwich panels with carbon fiber and hybrid skins (left).  Viking Yachts uses a variety of Mahogany composite panels, for example in the Viking 92 bulkheads (right), to reduce weight and boost performance.