The maker of a lightweight fiberglass trailer has turned to a specially design polyurea from VersaFlex Inc. to improve production.
The polyurea designed by Kansas City, Kan.-based Versaflex for fiberglass dries in 30 seconds, and can be used with a chopper-mounted spray gun to make parts, molds or rapid prototypes, according to its manufacturer.
Unlike polyester resins, which VersaFlex said can take up to a day to fully cure, the spray-applied polyuria applies with 100 percent solids, dries within 30 seconds, and cures with 60 minutes, company officials said. The product is called AroStruct.
Spraying is done with a plural-component spray gun connected to a long heated hose and pump machine. Unlike epoxy, which has a short pot life, the structural polyurea's components are mixed in the spray gun nozzle during application. No pre-mixing is needed.
One user is NestEgg Trailers, a maker of lightweight tow-behind trailers based in Hayden, Idaho. The company had been manufacturing its fiberglass trailers in California, using traditional polyester resins, vacuum infusion and epoxies, but state environmental authorities levied a $26,000 fine for VOC emissions, and NextEgg moved out of the state, said owner Vince Austin.
Austin turned to AroStruct, which he said has lowered labor costs by 50 percent and mold-making cost by 75 percent. He has moved half of his crew from making parts into assembly.
“We've found AroStruct to be at least as strong and flexible as traditional resins, but without the VOC so we can spray indoors or out and meet regulations,” Austin said. “We were looking for the right combination of strength and elongation, and VersaFlex worked with us to optimize the formula for our process.”
Tel. 800-321-0906, www.versaflex.com.