Info on Nidacore

[Herman]

I have used Nida-Core (Nida-Plast in Europe) for some 4 meter racing dinghies:

Things I liked:

-conforms to shape, can be bent in compound curves, thus the complete hull could be made from only 5 pieces of Nida.
-huge damage tolerance

Things I did not like:
-actually too heavy for my appication. With the knowledge I have today, I would opt for either 60 kg/m3 PVC foam, or Core-Cell A400 or A450. This has a certain weight advantage over the same stiffness.
The surface of Nida is covered with a veil, I think this soaks up just as much resin as filling the structure of a foam core. So let's keep that even...
-Nida has a low shear strength. Of course this gives it the damage tolerance, but the panel is less stiff than a PVC or Core-Cell panel.
-The cells do have the tendency to telegraph through the skin, after about 1 year, the pattern was visible on the outside (outer skin was 1x carbon 200 gr/m2, 1x carbon/aramide 175 gr/m2)
-I used a very thin inner skin (1x 175 gr/m2 carbon aramide). One of the boats has been parked flooded with water for some time. The water had made it's way into the cells. I took the boat to Italy, just to get rid of the water in the cells. (Italy is much warmer than Holland...)

I do see applications for the material, but not in boat hulls. I would use it where damage tolerance and sound deadening properties are important, and weigh is a factor, but not critical. And away from water.

Price is OK for the material. Balsa is pricewise a good second. Then PVC, then Core-Cell.

[Grantman]

Originally Posted by henryblowery

Sorry to get off topic, but where do you get Nida-Core? I've looked at their website ...SNIP
Gray

try one of their sales reps:
http://www.nida-core.com/english/contact.htm

[JR-Shine]

a 1/1 epoxy is fine for stitch and glue plywood construction - not for foam core or nidacore. A 1/1 is not stiff enough.

We (the guys who you got your plans from ) have done a lot of work with nida-core. In fact we have tried to adapt it to your building method - its doesn not work well for the hull. The main reason id your molds are at least 2' apart with the stitch and glue method. Plywood is stiff enough, but nida core will sag between mold, so will foam core. With some work, you could adapt the mold by adding intermediate stations and slats - this means you need to learn lofting.

A nida-core of foam core hull on a OB15 (shell of the hull only) will weigh more than the plywood version. Where you save the weight is on the inside part. Stingers, bulkheads, sole, casting deck, etc… Do ing these out of nida-core will save much more weight and it’s A LOT easier to make flat parts.

[Russ]

I can see that many of you are really trying to learn as much as possible about core and more. I would like to suggest a source of good information for all your needs. See the Sourcebook!
GO TO "WWW.COMPOSITESWORLD.COM"
You will find a lot geared to aircraft but many of the material are the same now. CHEERS, Russ