Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
 
Old 05 January 2012, 23:02   #1
Member
 
mister p's Avatar
 
Country: UK - England
Town: LONDON
Make: SR4/ZODIAC/3D
Length: 4m +
Engine: 30T/40T
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,433
Ally Rib

Aluminium is a better material than GRP for RIBs.

I need convincing because I love GRP RIBs but I think aluminium alloy may actually be the better material for the RIB.
__________________
mister p is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05 January 2012, 23:43   #2
Member
 
Country: USA
Town: Seattle
Boat name: Water Dog
Make: Polaris
Length: 4m +
Engine: Yamaha 60hp
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,152
Better in some regards, worse in others

Ali is:
noisy and expensive
not tolerant of minor design flaws or stress risers (welds can crack)
cold in cold water, hot in tropical sun
hard to reweld later once its been in use due to surface contamination of the metal
hard to make complex hull curves
hard to find compatible antifoul (can't use copper based paints)
risks galvanic corrosion if you're not careful in construction and add-ons

very light weight can may equal better fuel economy or higher speeds for a given HP
highly abrasion resistant
no gelcoat to chip
doesn't need wood or foam cores to create stiffness
paintable if you need color
no blisters
recycleable at the end of its life

Probably some other pluses and minues those are some off the top of my head.
__________________
captnjack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06 January 2012, 08:19   #3
Member
 
Cookee's Avatar
 
Country: UK - England
Town: Salcombe, Devon, UK
Boat name: BananaShark
Make: BananaShark
Length: 10m +
Engine: 2xYanmar 260 diesels
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 4,225
They are used extensively in jet boat river applications in New Zealand because of the better abrasion resistance as captnjack says - if the material was better for the UK market you would see more of it - Sealegs are aluminium but guess where they're made!
__________________
Cookee
Originally Posted by Zippy
When a boat looks that good who needs tubes!!!
Cookee is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off




All times are GMT. The time now is 10:30.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.