06-096 C.M.R. ch. 162, § 2 - Definitions

A. Application equipment cleaning. "Application equipment cleaning" means the process of flushing or removing resins and gel coats from the interior or exterior of equipment that is used to apply resin or gel coat in the manufacture of fiberglass parts.

B. Assembly adhesives. "Assembly adhesives" means any chemical substance that is applied for the purpose of bonding two surfaces together other than by mechanical means.

C. Atomized application method. "Atomized application method" means a resin application technology in which the resin leaves the application equipment and breaks into droplets or an aerosol as it travels from the application equipment to the surface of the part. Atomized application methods include, but are not limited to, resin spray guns and resin chopper spray guns.

D. Boat. "Boat" means any type of vessel, other than a seaplane, that can be used for transportation on the water.

E. Clear gel coat. "Clear gel coat" means gel coats that are clear or translucent so that underlying colors are visible. Clear gel coats are used to manufacture parts for sale. Clear gel coats do not include tooling gel coats used to build or repair molds.

F. Closed molding. "Closed molding" means any molding process in which pressure is used to distribute the resin through the reinforcing fabric placed between two mold surfaces to either saturate the fabric or fill the mold cavity. The pressure may be clamping pressure, fluid pressure, atmospheric pressure, or vacuum pressure used either alone or in combination. The mold surfaces may be rigid or flexible. Closed molding includes, but is not limited to, compression molding with sheet molding compound, infusion molding, resin injection molding (RIM), vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), resin transfer molding (RTM), and vacuum-assisted compression molding. Processes in which a closed mold is used only to compact saturated fabric or remove air or excess resin from the fabric (such as in vacuum bagging), are not considered closed molding. Open molding steps, such as application of a gel coat or skin coat layer by conventional open molding prior to a closed molding process, are not closed molding.

G. Cured resin. "Cured resin" or "cured gel coat" means resin or gel coat that has changed irreversibly from a liquid to a solid.

H. Fiberglass boat. "Fiberglass boat" means a vessel in which either the hull or deck is built from a composite material consisting of a thermosetting resin matrix reinforced with fibers of glass, carbon, aramid, or other material.

I. Filled resin. "Filled resin" or "filled production resin" means a resin to which an inert material has been added to change viscosity, density, shrinkage, or other physical properties.

J. Flowcoater. "Flowcoater" means a nonatomizing application method of applying resins and gel coats to an open mold with a fluid nozzle in a fan pattern with no air supplied to the nozzle.

K. Gel coat. "Gel coat" means a polyester resin surface coating, either pigmented or clear, that provides a cosmetic enhancement and improves resistance to degradation from exposure to the elements.

L. Mixing. "Mixing" means any operation in which resin or gel coat, including the mixing of putties or polyester resin putties, is combined with additives that include, but are not limited to, fillers, promoters, or catalysts.

M. Mold. "Mold" means the cavity or surface into or on which gel coat, resin, and fibers are placed and from which finished fiberglass parts take their form.

N. Monomer VOC. "Monomer VOC" means a relatively low-molecular-weight organic compound such as styrene that combines with itself, or other similar compounds, by a cross-linking reaction to become a cured thermosetting resin.

O. Monomer VOC content . "Monomer VOC content " means the weight of the monomer, divided by the weight of the polymer.

P. Nonatomized application method. "Nonatomized application method" means any application technology in which the resin is not broken into droplets or an aerosol as it travels from the application equipment to the surface of the part. Nonatomized application methods include, but are not limited to, flowcoaters, chopper flowcoaters, pressure-fed resin rollers, resin impregnators, and hand application (for example, paint brush or paint roller).

Q. Open molding resin and gel coat operation. "Open molding resin and gel coat operation" means any process in which the reinforcing fibers and resin are placed in the mold and are open to the surrounding air while the reinforcing fibers are saturated with resin. For the purposes of this Chapter, open molding includes operations in which a vacuum bag or similar cover is used to compress an uncured laminate to remove air bubbles or excess resin, or to achieve a bond between a core material and a laminate.

R. Pigmented gel coat. "Pigmented gel coat" means opaque gel coats used to manufacture parts for sale. Pigmented gel coats do not include tooling gel coats used to build or repair molds.

S. Polyester resin materials. "Polyester resin materials" means unsaturated polyester resins, such as isophthalic, orthophthalic, halogenated, bisphenol A, vinyl ester, or furan resins; cross-linking agents; catalysts; gel coats; inhibitors; accelerators; promoters; and any other material containing VOC used in polyester resin operations.

T. Polyester resin operations. "Polyester resin operations" means fabricate, rework, repair, or touchup products for commercial, military, or industrial use by mixing, pouring, hand laying-up, impregnating, injecting, forming, winding, spraying, and/or curing by using unsaturated polyester resin materials.

U. Production resin. "Production resin" means any resin used to manufacture parts for sale. Production resins do not include tooling resins used to build or repair molds, or assembly adhesives as defined in this Chapter.

V. Repair. "Repair" means that portion of the fabrication process that requires the addition of polyester resin materials to portions of a previously fabricated product in order to mend damage.

W. Resin. "Resin" means any thermosetting resin with or without pigment containing styrene (CAS No. 100-42-5) or methyl methacrylate (CAS No. 80-62-6) and used to encapsulate and bind together reinforcement fibers in the construction of fiberglass parts.

X. Resin impregnator. "Resin impregnator" means a mechanical nonatomizing composite materials application method in which fiber reinforcement is saturated with resins in a controlled ratio for each specific composite product.

Y. Roll-out. "Roll-out" means the process of using rollers, squeegees, or similar tools to compact reinforcing materials saturated with resin to remove trapped air or excess resin.

Z. Skin coat. "Skin coat" means a layer of resin and fibers applied over the gel coat to protect the gel coat from being deformed by the next laminate layers.

AA. Tooling gel coat. "Tooling gel coat" means the gel coat used to build or repair molds (also known as tools) or prototypes (also known as plugs) from which molds will be made.

BB. Tooling resin. "Tooling resin" means the resin used to build or repair molds (also known as tools) or prototypes (also known as plugs) from which molds will be made.

CC. Touch-up. "Touch-up" means that portion of the process that is necessary to cover minor imperfections.

DD. Vacuum bagging. "Vacuum bagging" means any molding technique in which the reinforcing fabric is saturated with resin and then covered with a flexible sheet that is sealed to the edge of the mold and where a vacuum is applied under the sheet to compress the laminate, remove excess resin, or remove trapped air from the laminate during curing. Vacuum bagging does not include processes that meet the definition of closed molding.

EE. Vinylester resin. "Vinylester resin" means a thermosetting resin containing esters of acrylic or methacrylic acids and having double-bond and ester linkage sites only at the ends of the resin molecules.

Notes

06-096 C.M.R. ch. 162, § 2