Product category:
Materials and components
News Release from: Victrex USA | Subject: Victrex Peek
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 15 August 2005
Thermoplastic lightens the load of yacht
rigging
Using Victrex Peek has enabled Harken to produce bearings that are 30% lighter than conventional stainless steel bearings.
When Harken, manufacturer of sailboat rigging for racing yachts, wanted to modify its winches in order to obtain lighter weight and increased strength, it chose Victrex Peek, a high performance thermoplastic, because of its excellent product profile Using Victrex Peek enabled Harken to produce bearings that are 30% lighter than conventional stainless steel bearings
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 31 Dec 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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"In addition to being extremely lightweight, the roller bearings had to be totally reliable", says Andrew Ragan, Product Manager, Victrex USA.
"In racing competitions such as the Americas Cup, the bearings are subjected to intensive use under extreme conditions of mechanical stress, as well as considerable stress from sea water and sudden changes in temperature".
Because of these extreme conditions, Harken thoroughly researched its choice of materials for the bearings.
"It was the exceptional chemical, tribological, electrical and thermal resistance of Victrex Peek that made the difference", says Ragan.
"Because of these characteristics, Victrex Peek is increasingly being used to replace aluminium and other metals in a wide range of applications".
In the design of racing yachts, overall lightness and performance are the two fundamental guiding principles.
To guarantee the level of excellence expected of its products, Harken uses technologies and materials that are extremely advanced.
For a number of years, Harken has been combining techniques used in the aerospace industry with particular technological attention to detail in the manufacture of several of its products.
Used in a wide range of advanced applications, Victrex Peek is a linear, aromatic semicrystalline thermoplastic material, It offers exceptional mechanical performance over a wide range of temperatures, has an excellent mechanical strength/weight ratio, is halogen free and has exceptional resistance to chemical agents, solvents and benzenes, as well as a low UL94V0 flammability rating at 1.45mm thickness.
It is easily processed and has excellent fatigue resistance properties.
Harken, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of quality sailboat hardware and accessories.
Its blocks, travelers, furling systems and winches can be found aboard everything from the smallest dinghies to the largest mega yachts and cruisers.
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