Boat was in a sea can next to a fire

[Tungsten]

I don’t know a lot about what happened so bare with me. boat has a composite floor. Corecell 1/2” A Maybe 36oz both sides ish Sides were 1/4” ply. 6oz glass.

Anyway. Fire was next door to the sea can. Haven’t seen any pics and haven’t got a clue how hot it got. Assuming it got really hot. What happens to the epoxy?

again no other info. I assume it would start to sag and get really soft at say 500F ? How long it stayed hot I don’t know.
Any thoughts boat was on a trailer it’s 12-13’ Tires still have air. That’s all I know.

 

[Tungsten]

Starting to get info. I guess it got hot enough to melt a tarp strap. Gunnel joints/scarfs separated.

 

[Tungsten]

Mahogany ply that was painted. Paint melted off I guess. But yet no damage to spare tire?

 

[BlueBell]

Wow.
That's going to take some tinkering.
Small scale destructive testing is going to be your new best friend.
Enjoy.

More details, is there a police report on the fire?
News footage? Historians, previous owner...

 

[fallguy]

Well, pretty easy really.

All these products have thermal transistion temperatures.

Epoxy and corecell are closer to each other than fiberglass which can be in a fire and not melt.

What happens when things get hot?

They expand. And all at varying rates, but for a moment; disconsider rate variations.

For the same exact expansion rate, something 10 times thicker that expands, does so at 10 times the rate. So, the corecell expands or the plywood expands more than the seam by nature of its thickness alone.

If, of course, the expansion rates are 10%, then that would par out, but typically a good epoxy joint for even a 20mm core bond is only 40mils or a millimeter. And, the cte of epoxy and corecell are purposely not too dissimilar.

Silvertip epoxy by Systems 3 auto ignites at 572F. Corecell does not auto ignite, but thermal failure occurs at about 350F.

But at least you know the boat didn't reach 572F because it would have caught fire.

Someone here like @rxcomposite or @ondarvr may have better knowledge about high heat failure specifics. I have seen burning epoxy dripping, but not sure if that happens before or after the fire.

 

[Tungsten]

Well, pretty easy really.

All these products have thermal transistion temperatures.

Epoxy and corecell are closer to each other than fiberglass which can be in a fire and not melt.

What happens when things get hot?

They expand. And all at varying rates, but for a moment; disconsider rate variations.

For the same exact expansion rate, something 10 times thicker that expands, does so at 10 times the rate. So, the corecell expands or the plywood expands more than the seam by nature of its thickness alone.

If, of course, the expansion rates are 10%, then that would par out, but typically a good epoxy joint for even a 20mm core bond is only 40mils or a millimeter. And, the cte of epoxy and corecell are purposely not too dissimilar.

Silvertip epoxy by Systems 3 auto ignites at 572F. Corecell does not auto ignite, but thermal failure occurs at about 350F.

But at least you know the boat didn't reach 572F because it would have caught fire.

Someone here like @rxcomposite or @ondarvr may have better knowledge about high heat failure specifics. I have seen burning epoxy dripping, but not sure if that happens before or after the fire.

Thanks Fall Guy. Yes the wood gunnels joints have all opened up. Another pic I got.

 

[Tungsten]

No reports or anything on the fire. Happened last fall. Just getting info now.
The wood can be repaired I think. Some screws and goop.
More concerned with the fillets and joints of sides to floor etc.

 

[fallguy]

For something like that joint, honestly, I'd inject clear epoxy and clamp super light.

 

[Tungsten]

For something like that joint, honestly, I'd inject clear epoxy and clamp super light.

Ya those are the easy fixes.
Fire was in the winter so really cold like 0 degrees F.

 

[philSweet]

If the fire turned frozen water to steam quickly, there could be no end to the nightmare. If the trapped water had a way out, it will take a lot of heat with it, keeping the rest at about 210 F. But I'm guessing a lot of delamination issues unless the epoxy-ply bonding was utterly pristine. The outer fibers of the ply will be stuck to the epoxy, it's the ply just below the epoxy that will fail.

And what in the world is a sea can?

 

[Tungsten]

If the fire turned frozen water to steam quickly, there could be no end to the nightmare. If the trapped water had a way out, it will take a lot of heat with it, keeping the rest at about 210 F. But I'm guessing a lot of delamination issues unless the epoxy-ply bonding was utterly pristine. The outer fibers of the ply will be stuck to the epoxy, it's the ply just below the epoxy that will fail.

And what in the world is a sea can?

Sea can. Metal box that’s used for overseas shipping on boats.
Boat was inside in the cold dry air. Luck if it was 20% RH.

 

[philSweet]

Ah. Merkins call them Conex or ISO containers.

 

[Tungsten]

Ah. Merkins call them Conex or ISO containers.

Quite popular for storage as there not that expensive and provides good security and out of the elements.

 

[BlueBell]

Boat was inside in the cold dry air. Luck if it was 20% RH.

But you're speculating right?
Because you don't have any information about the fire, right?
It could have been on a ship in the fire, or a storage area, anywhere really...
Have you tried any destructive testing?
Like drilling a hole in the epoxy and see how it reacts?
Do you know what country it was in during the fire?
Was there water damage?
Any sign the container was open during or after the fire.
Any additional info?
Nothing?

 

[Tungsten]

But you're speculating right?
Because you don't have any information about the fire, right?
It could have been on a ship in the fire, or a storage area, anywhere really...
Have you tried any destructive testing?
Like drilling a hole in the epoxy and see how it reacts?
Do you know what country it was in during the fire?
Was there water damage?
Any sign the container was open during or after the fire.
Any additional info?
Nothing?

Lol. I guess I wasn’t perfectly clear. What country was it in. Lol. Your reaching a little.

I’ll get better pics soon. Weird that the paint on the outside of plywood is gone. But yet the spare tire on the trailer looks fine.