Thai-Kiwi Marine Company Limited

Developed to reduce construction time and to optimize structural weight, Du FLEX composite Panels and Duracore planks minimize the experience required to produce a high performance composite structure.
Time-consuming, coring and vacuum-bagging steps normally required to fabricate high performance composites are avoided, and material waste, labour and tooling costs are greatly reduced.

Unique features: Tolerance Economy Expandability Kits

Panel Manufacture
The core and laminates are co-cured in a hot press, a method that consolidates the laminate under pressure increasing the fibre volume and therefore the strength of the finished panel. The fibre content is approximately 62% by weight with E-glass in the finished DuFLEX panel, compared to 15% by weight with spray-up and 25% with hand layup processes using chopped strand mat.
Core, fibre orientation and ply schedules are based on design or engineering specifications to best meet weight targets, stress and impact loads, and other design parameters.
By using epoxy rather than polyester resin as the matrix in DuFLEX, a reduction of laminate thickness is achieved while improving damage tolerance.
Epoxy exhibits better core adhesion moisture and fatique resistance, and has superior strain capabilities which provides DuFLEX laminates with greater impact resistance than polyester/E-glass laminates that are up to 3 times thicker.
Greater stiffness allows frame spacing, while further reducing weight and building cost. Total weight savings can reach 50%. For boats and motor vehicles, this has a follow on effect for power and fuel requirements. Toughness and durability of the panels reduce general maintenance costs, and there is no chance of osmotic blistering occurring in the epoxy matrix. DuFLEX panels are supplied with a Z-Joint on both edges, so the panels can be easily assembled.

Expandability
To offset their individual size, DuFLEX panels can be supplied with both long edges pre-machined to facilitate joining. This Z-joint is structurally effective and achieves a smooth & fair surface profile. The joint is analogous to a weld in aluminium structures and has mechanical characteristics that can be accommodated in an engineering design.
The Z-joint transforms DuFLEX panels on-sites, into large monolithic plates. To streamline the joining process, a Z-press can be utilised. The press applies heat and pressure to cure the epoxy adhesive used to bond are fully cured in 4 minutes and panel length can be increased at a rate of 1.2m lineal metres per join. The Z-press is designed for rugged practicality from rectangular hollow section steel, and is shipped in a “ready to assemble” form.
Computer aided design and manufacture (CAD/CAM) processes can be combined with computer numeric control (CNC) equipment to optimize and produce pre-fabricated DuFLEX kits.
The kit form process is practical even for “one-off’ kit sets if the part files are available from the naval architect or designer. Parts to be formed into curved surfaces can be translated by design software into the correct flat panel shapes, and this electronic information is supplied to the engineers and draftsmen. All parts required for the project are nested together within the panels to reduce wastage. During the nesting process, an allowance is made for the Z-joint so that the exact part shape and dimensions are retained after joining the individual DuFLEX panels.
Once the panels are manufactured, the CAD information is used by a CNC router to machine the programmed shapes into the panels.
Each pre-cut part is left attached to the panel by small tabs to ensure the kit arrives with all components securely in place. The tabs are easily cut away, when the panels are joined and construction commences. The panels are sequentially numbered to indicate the correct joining sequence, and a nesting diagram, showing part numbers and descriptions is supplied for easy identification.
Custom kits can be engineered to meet the rules of all major regulatory authorities including Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, American Bureau of Shipping, Det Norske Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd and Australian Standard AS4132. 

Construction
With the DuFLEX system, boat builders can use widely spaced temporary female frames, or place hull panels over bulkheads which are aligned upside down over strongbacks. Large parts, for example a topside panel, may extend through two or more panels, so the panels are joined before the tabs are cut. Flat surfaces such as floors, walls and bulkheads are used as-cut, and curved surfaces are created by bending the flat panels into the required shape.
A strong, lightweight monocoque structure is achieved after adjacent parts and internal support structures are bonded together. On the hull interior, the joints are epoxy/fiberglass taped at points where differently angled panels meet; typically the keel, gunnels and chines.
The panels are designed to provide a fair surface on the hull exterior, and while the builder may choose to add laminate for aesthetic or other reasons, it’s not required structurally. The DuFLEX kit-building system minimizes structural weight, material waste, labour and tooling costs, maximizes mechanical properties, tightens design allowables, improves product quality, simplifies quotations , and reduces VOC emissions.

Concave and convex curves
Compound surfaces are also common in boats and include sail boat hulls and the flared topsides in sport fishing boats. These surfaces can be made by bending and edge gluing DuFLEX Strips around temporary frames, as with traditional strip planking. DuFLEX Panels are pre-laminated with unidirectional pre-pregs, in a 1200mm x 2400mm sheets with Z-joints to the full length of the boat, and then ripped into strips on-site. Strip widths may be specific on a per-job basis, but typically four times the thickness of the panel.

To compliment the DuFLEX system
CNC-routed plywood or MDF (medium density fibreboard) temporary frames can also be supplied to provide the builder with accurate sections, cut exactly to drawing specifications. Composite 90% Bonding Angles have been designed to provide a quick and effective means for making right angle joints between DuFLEX panels.
These pre-cured angles can be bonded in place with an epoxy paste adhesive, speeding up assembly and reducing wet lay-up. Non –90` angles are bonded with conventional wet lay-up tabbing techniques. Bonding Angles consist of multiaxial E-glass in a high performance epoxy matrix, peel plied on all surfaces, with the fibre direction tailored for optimum load carrying capability. This combination of resin matrix, fibre content and orientation assures optimum mechanical properties while the use of an epoxy adhesive enhances the bond strength. All bonding angles are supplied in 2400mm lengths with either 42mm or 84mm legs.

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