Rubber Fetishist Wanted

[Twister_Ken]

Sorry, that should have read "Rubber Specialist Wanted"

The entertaining correspondence about boats with holes (accidental) in them has got me wondering.

Some forms of rubber sheeting are very stretchy, and very tough to penetrate.

So howzabout lining the inside of the hull (especially the bow section) with a suitable rubber, such that if the hull is compromised, the rubber a) remains unpenetrated, b) holds together the GRP, wood, whatever, allowing a quick and dirty repair to be made as soon as the vessel can be dried out and c) keeps out any H20.

So, what rubber, what adhesive, why would/wouldn’t it work?

 

[nicho]

No doubt to be made by the london Rubber Company, to keep all us "pr..ks" on this forum from harm!

 

[nicho]

Ken

On a more serious note, I assume something along the lines of the rubber used inside Concorde's wing tanks, following the punctured tanks that caused the fatal crash at CDG.

Mike N

 

[Martin_Billings]

Theory seems to be same as for double skinned tanks in bulk crude carriers. Problem of expense also similar.

 

[Jacket]

This is why some boats have a layer of Kevlar included in the layup. Kevlar is very tough, and can be flexed a lot without tearing/ fracturing (which is why it is used in bullet proof jackets). So the idea is that if you hit something, the main glassfibre laminate is fractured, but the kevlar layer remains intact, meaning that there is no hole to let water in.

The problem I can think of with the rubber idea is that it perishes with time, becoming very brittle. Though possibly some of the modern artificial rubbers are better in this respect.