Closed Cell Foam

Polyethylene Foam

Foam Types: Polyethylene Foam
Standard Sizes: Full, Half
Heights: 1/4", 1/2", 3/4", 1", 1-1/2" and 2"




Features

As closed cell foam sheets or any other form it comes in, polyethylene is a very strong and resilient material which, as one of many types of closed cell foam, is ideally suited for use in many different regards. Some of the most common uses of polyethylene sheets include shock-absorbing, vibration-dampening, insulating, barriers and polyethylene foam roll styles used as buoyancy components. Polyethylene closed cell foam is an excellent material for cushioning products in packaging applications, especially in the form of polyethylene foam sheets . The excellent buoyancy as well as durability of Polyethylene foam allows it to be used in flotation equipment,and other nautical products. Additionally, polyethylene tubes can be used for a number of other purposes, including irrigation tubing and resisting acids and alkalines.

Details

* Closed cell chemically crosslinked polyethylene foam
* Lightweight
* Shatter proof
* Cost-effective
* Easy to fabricate
* Non-dusting
* Excellent buoyancy
* Superb strength, and tear resistance
* High shock absorption
* Flexibility
* Impervious to mildew, mold, rot, and bacteria Superior chemical & grease resistance

Water, Water Everywhere

Thoughts from forums:
-...make sure that your flotation is tough enough to last the race.  Don't use Lowes insulation sheets.  Get a tougher commercial foam and put a light structural cage in it.

-Seal everything.  There is no place that mud/water can't find its way into.

-In-Helmet Radios Rugged Radios will cut bajaSAE teams a good deal. We bought 3 water proof radios, 2 pit headsets and 1 helmet headset.

-40lbs is about right for most flotation systems.

-08: 22x8 Kenda BearKlaws, Plastic Thermo-formed Fenders, closed cell foam float wrapped in carbon fiber - good for 13th if i remember correctly.
-07: 26x12 Chevron pattern run reversed. closed cell foam float w/ plastic skid pan -good for 11th


-Doing our initial flotation test without rear floats because the captain was sure we didn't need them. The car was sitting with the engine damn near under water and the front wheels nearly out of it. The woman running the float check kept saying "Y'all need more rear floatation" in her best southern twang. She probably said it 15 times during the course of the test.


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Water from others

This picture from 2008 shows how much we had improved the design of our water fenders. The water is flying backwards!!! This really worked well at competition and got us a 11th place in Water Manuveribility.
For the 2008 year one our big focuses was on the water section. It was an area that we really struggled on in 2007. We came up with a pretty good system for 2008. Our goal was to have the wheels rest a little less than halfway and have ALL of the water from the wheels get directed back. To do this we first changed our tires from stud ilke ones, for a light mud tire. These tires had a chevron like pattern which enabled us to really move water. The next thing we did was attach a metal plate to the edge of our fenders that had slots in it where th bolts attached. This allowed the metal catch plate to be adjusted so that it was almost touching the wheel. By using this adjustable design we were able to catch almost all of the water!

Via: http://www.jhu.edu/asme/innovations.html