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Unread 02/09/2010, 04:19 PM   #12
kcress
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Central California Coast.
Posts: 5,383
They use Styrofoam to hold up concrete covered boat docks. Are you sure the Styrofoam is not just going to rip off of any silicone you try to adhere it with?

Here's why: 72" x 24" x 8" = 13,824 cubic inches.

That equals 59 gallons of displacement.

59 gallons of displacement delivers 491 lbs of buoyancy.

I have a hard time accepting that you could put 500 lbs of pull on Styrofoam without the face just ripping off. It's normally used in compression. Gluing it down puts it in tension. It's rather like concrete in that it's very, very good, in compression and lousy in tension.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to diss your plan. I want it to work as I dislike the whole foam/epoxy method as kludgy, messy, and fraught with gotchas. I would love to see Styrofoam work out as I have to do something soon myself.


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