Hi

Which epoxy should I buy use for this?

1:
A motorcycle seat-fuel tank monocoque?
It will not be the fuel tank itself, but it will be self-supporting without a subframe,
and thereby it must be able to handle some weight and not flex.
Are "New Laminating Resin" and/or "original Epoxy Laminating Resin" to be considered
"construction resins" and do they have good enough mechanical properties for this? 

2:
Motorcycle throttle body, hot environment, it will support/house bearings and must have
some chemical resistance. Very High Temperature Epoxy Resin?

3,
Motorcycle fairings, should be a bit flexible.

THX

http://motoform.blogspot.se

Hi,

The EL2 resin would be perfect for both your seat module and fairings, it certainly is a structural resin; to give you an idea of it's performance below is a chart comparing our EL2 and IN2 to the bench-mark and commonly used West System 105, as you can see it completely eclipses it in all respects.

For your throttle bodies the High Temperature resin would be ideal as this (with a proper post-cure) will withstand 180C.

To retain a degree of flex in your fairings the reinforcement selection will have a big influence, selecting kevlar and diolen fibres will increase impact resistance and flex.

BRAND / TYPE	TENSILE STRENGTH (Mpas)	COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH (Mpas)	ULT TG (Deg C)	ELONGATION AT BREAK (%)	FLEXURAL STRENGTH (Mpas)
EC EL2	80	95	100	10	117
EC IN2	73.5	104	100	8	124
WEST 105/205	26.51	78.72	61	3.4	97.3

Paul Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical

ok, thanks.
but also, your old epoxy has a high viscosity, I kind of like that,
is that epoxy also suitable?
or would you recommend an additive in the EL2 instead?

http://motoform.blogspot.se

The Coating resin as we now call it, is perfectly fine for structural parts, it still features really good mechanical properties jst not as high as those of the EL or IN resins.

Paul Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical

ok, EL seems a bit better, but also my question about additive for preferred viscosity?

http://motoform.blogspot.se

but also my question about additive for preferred viscosity?

There is no additive for the EL2 to increase their viscosity. Generally it's preferable to have a relatively low viscosity for laminating. If the viscosity is too high it's difficult to 'wet through' the fibres and can result in air entrapment (which reduces the performance of the cured laminate). What are your reasons for wanting a higher viscosity laminating resin? - The only reason I can think of is 'run off' where excess resin will be drained out of the part by gravity but this would normally indicate that you're too 'resin rich' or that a different laminating process (maybe vacuum assisted) should be used.

--Matt


Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

Hi Matt

I thought that your "Fumed Silica" would work.
Mostly my reason for higher viscosity / better "stick" is that my upcoming project has a lot of "360" / under-up
work to be done in difficult and small spaces.
Like inside the tail of this tank - rear monocoque.


Anyhow, I plan to buy the smallest pack of 3 different epoxy to run tests before ordering larger amounts,
maybe, hopefully, I will find the EL2 suitable as it is.

http://motoform.blogspot.se

Oh, OK, I see. Yes, I guess there are circumstances where a laminating resin would benefit from some thixotropic property (such as laminating upside-down) but they are rare because that gravity defying thixotropic property will be at the expense of fibre wetting. Let me know how you get on.

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales