USEOFCOMPOSI

TEMATERI
ALSI
NMARI
NE

Fi
br e-r
einforcedpol ymercomposi tes( FRPs)hav ebeenusedsuccessf ullyinmarine
appl i
cationsforsev eraldecadesi nar eassuchasr adomesandmassst ruct
ures,superyachts,
wor kboat sandl eisurecraft.Mor er ecent l
yFRPshav ebeenusedi nlesswel l
known
appl i
cationssuchasbear i
ngs, propel l
ers,commer cialhat
chcov ers,exhaust sandt opsi
de
structures.Theuseofgl ass- f
ibrecomposi t
es( GRP)inmarineappl i
cationswasoneoft hef i
rst
si
gni fi
cantar easofGRPuse.I thasr evoluti
onisedthecapabili
tytodesi gnandmanuf actur
e
l
argecomposi testructuresinsev er alsectors.Vesselsaremadei nt heUKbyav ari
etyof
processes, includi
nghand- l
ayGRP, resin-
infusi
on,thermoplast
icsandhi ghperformancecar bon
fi
br eprepregf orracingy achts.

Themai
nadv
ant
agesofGRPf
ormar
ineappl
i
cat
ionsar
e:

Env
ironment
alr
esi
stance,
incl
udi
ngf
reedom f
rom r
ott
ing,
cor
rosi
on,
etc.

Abi
l
ityt
omoul
dseaml
ess,
compl
exshapedst
ruct
ures

Abi
l
ityt
otai
l
orst
rengt
htosui
tloadi
ngcondi
ti
ons

Excel
lentstr
engtht
oweightchar
act
eri
sti
cs-GRPmar
inest
ruct
uresgener
all
yhal
fthewei
ghtof
equiv
alentsteel
str
uct
ures.

Lowmai
ntenanceandeaseofr
epai
r

Excel
l
entdur
abi
l
ity

Racingy achtsusecomposi tesmor eext ensiv

elythananyot hermarinest r
ucture.Themateri
als
usedar enott ypical ofmarineconst ructi
onbecauseofspeci alr
equir
ement s.Mi ni
mal wei
ght
andmaxi mum st iff
nessar ecr uciallyimportantintheirdesignsot hattheycansai lwit
hmaximal
speedandr esistancet othei mpactofwav esandot herelement sinmar ineenv i
ronments.
Carbonf ibrereinforcedepoxycomposi t
esar eusuallyusedi nboathullscor edwi t
hhoneycomb
orfoam, frames, keel s,masts, polesandboom, carbonwi nchdr umsandshaf t
ing.Theuseof
FRPscancont ri
butet oimpr ovedper for
manceandmi nimiset hedangerofsai l
ingdrawbacks
andf ai
l
ur einthedi fferenti
nt ernationalsail
ingconditions.

SubseaAppl
i
cat
ions

Themainsubseaappli
cati
onofcomposi t
eshasbeenaspr ot
ect
ionstruct ur
esforsubsea
well
headsandvalv
es.Theadvantageofusingcompositesisweightsavingwhi chcangiv
e
subst
anti
alsavi
ngsini
nstal
lat
ioncostthr
oughtheuseofl owercostli
ftv essel
s.Thecostof
manufact
ureiscompeti
ti
vewiththatofconvent
ional
steelandconcretet echnology
.