During the recent boat fair, Boot'96, Akzo Nobel Aramid Products V.o.F. (PB 9300, NL-6800 SB Arnheim) presented its aramid fibre "Twaron" as a reinforcement material for sailing and motorboat hulls. The major advantage of aramid reinforcement compared to glass fibre reinforcement of the same weight is, according to Akzo, its substantially better high impact resistance. Akzo cite the other advantages of "Twaron" compared to conventional reinforcement materials as being its superior mechanical properties, its additional strength, as "Twaron" is always used in fabric form, a longer life span, lower moisture absorption and a better adhesion because high-grade resins must be used. In the boat building industry "Twaron" is used by both producers of luxury yachts as well as much smaller vessels.

Akzo Nobel states that "Twaron" fabrics can also be used for any application where weight saving and high impact resistance are important such as automobile and heavy goods vehicle superstructures, tyres or protective clothing. Other areas of application are conveyor belts or optical fibres in telecommunication cables. Akzo Nobel has a capacity of 12,000 t/y for "Twaron" fibres. They hold about a third of the worldwide market within this segment with the remaining two thirds being held by DuPont (brand name "Kevlar").

READER SERVICE: Detailed press information about "Twaron" used in the boat building industry with application examples (German): PIE-No. 39028 – Leaflet "Encounter at sea" (English): PIE-No. 39029 – Customer publication "Twaron News", edition 1/96 (German): PIE-No. 39030.