Royalex

Royalex is a modern plastic composite. The standard version is a laminate comprised of ( from the outside to the inside): a layer of polyvinyl chloride, ABS several layers and an ABS foam core which expands when exposed to heat only in the production process of the final product. It was used in canoe building since the mid- 1090er years, production was discontinued at the end of 2013 according to the manufacturer due to lower quantities and thus lower profitability. It is used in the U.S. and Canada from several large Canadian manufacturers and, inter alia, also a German manufacturer and is relatively light, durable material. For the canoe building, it was particularly interesting, since the weight of a Royalexbootes compared to PE - boats could be greatly reduced by the foamed core, losing much of resilience at higher stiffness and without.

Royalex Wurd developed by Uniroyal, then long manufactured by Spartech and later taken over by Polyplast that have the production finally closed. It was available in various laminate configurations that were obtained by varying the number of layers, their thickness and positioning in the starting material. Royalite, produced recently under the name " R84 " is an example of a particularly lightweight Royalex material with additionally increased stiffness, which was achieved by replacement of the PVC outer skin with an acrylic mix. How could different requirements eg for whitewater and touring boats or different boat sizes / types are met. Some manufacturers could thus reinforcing such as the tail, keel and stern of their boats in the supplied disk.

In recent years, production fell Royalex because variations in manufacturing quality somewhat into disrepute.

Material properties of Royalex

• Insulated against cold and heat
• Floats independently (on standing water are no buoyancy needed to keep the boat on the surface )
• Relatively stiff
• Durable
• Impact
• Initially relatively soft surface, but the rule over the years caused by UV radiation and outgassing of plasticizers is harder

In Royalexboote can be easily (eg for leg straps or lashing of luggage, etc. ) in this space anchor plates with D-rings. Disadvantage of Royalex is the softer surface compared to GRP (with stone touches you can " paint") and that the boat tips can not be formed as sharp. In addition, these boats are quite expensive and not recyclable. A boat made ​​of Royalex runs in stagnant waters generally not as good and easy as a boat in laminate construction or of wood ( inferior sliding properties ). This is due partly to the less smooth PVC surface and on the other, the less sharp molded boot tops that increase the water resistance.

With the material Royalite the weight over Royalex is further reduced by about 15%, which by different upper ( R84, an acrylic / PVC blend ) on the ABS layer and a thinner by about 2/3 ABS layer on the inside is achieved. The material is again significantly stiffer and with additional film coating the surface of the same or better durability. However, this is depending on the type of load. However, the bonding of anchor plates on R84 difficult, because most used for ( PVC ) armature contact or PVC adhesives hold significantly worse than the pure PVC skin of the regular Royalex.