EasyCell75 Closed Cell PVC Foam

The Highest operating temperature for our EasyCell75 Closed Cell PVC foam is 80 °C.

No, it's not suitable for autoclave/high temperature use. At prepreg curing temperatures (around 90°C) the Easy-Cell will soften which, combined with the pressure of an autoclave, would compress it. It is potentially possible to use the EasyCell with prepreg if they're cured at the lowest possible temperature (around 75°C) for a long time under vacuum only pressure but positive pressure from an autoclave would compress the foam, even at this lower temperature.

Although from a technical standpoint, PVC can be cut by laser, it generates acids and toxic fumes which can damage the laser equipment and are also hazardous to health. For that reason, we would not recommend cutting PVC by laser.

Well, firstly, it would be ESSENTIAL to use the drilled and grooved version of the EasyCell 75, not this solid version. The obvious reason for that being that the resin which is carried along the top face by the mesh and peel-ply needs to drop down through the core to the other side. Without the holes to drop through or the grooves to help with resin flow on the underside then you will just end up with a totally dry underside.

Assuming that you switch over to the drilled/grooved version of the foam then, to answer your question, you would certainly need infusion mesh and peel ply to facilitate the resin flow across the top layer of laminate, which in turn would then drop down through the holes and spread (via the grooving) on the underside.

Yes the sheet can be butt joined together during the foam core panel assembly to give sheet surface areas bigger than the foam sheet size. You can bond the sheets together using a foaming PU adhesive such as 'Gorilla Glue'

Yes, EasyCell 75 is easily shaped and sanded by hand to achieve a set profile for your core.

Yes, certainly. The density of the foam is 75kg/m3. The density of water is 1000kg/m3 anything with a density lower than water will float so as you can see the density of EasyCell75 is much lower than that of water and so it will very much float and could be used as bouyancy.

I'm afraid that we don't have thermal conductivity/insulation figures for the foam. Although not designed as an insulator it is still a closed cell foam and so the thermal insulation of the foam would be comparible to other foams of the same density.

For such a large surface area, the best way to bond the foam into place is to use our EL2 Epoxy Laminating Resin spread over the surface of the panel in a thin layer. As always, ensure you prepare the surface of the panel using a coarse abrasive paper and then remove any dust or grease traces.

Although our EasyCell75 is rigid enough to have tool shapes cut out of it and hold tools in place, it is not highly durable in such a situation and with regular use the foam would start to break up. I think for a tool tray it would be better to have a more foam more like a sponge-rubber which is not something that we sell.

That would really depend on the resin system that you use. Most composite resin systems (epoxy, polyester, vinylester) will bond well to the PVC but epoxy bonds the best. Once cured, the tissue layer should be well bonded to the PVC foam.