Today we went down to the Maritime Museum to have a look at the PLASTIKI boat. The boat is made using recyclable materials. The main material used was SRPET (Self Reinforced PET). It has a unique high damage tolerance and is highly flexible with great elasticity.
Some of the requirements of the vessel included the following:
-Had to use drink bottles
-Had to carry 6 people safely across the pacific ocean
-All materials needed to be recycled or recyclable
In working with 'downgraded' materials the naval architect went back to the polynesian voyaging vehicles. The final ship ended up being a 60ft boat with a narrow beam separation. Plywood was used on the main structure in original prototyping with corrugated iron as steel is recyclable. It was then realised that a rudder was necessary which led to the change in materials.
The SRPET needing to use steel moulds. It took 5/6 hours on each panel and needed 200 degrees heating to adhere the material together.
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