| GRP, Glass Reinforced Plastic, better known as | | | | fire- retardantcy, chemical-resistance, or be |
| fibreglass<.b>, | | | | resilient to environmental extremes, in short this |
| GRP, Glass Reinforced Plastic, offers designers | | | | outstanding modern day composite material has |
| unparalleled design freedom and flexibility, this | | | | great potential for designers, architects, and |
| unique composite material can be moulded into | | | | end-uses alike, pushing the design boundaries |
| any products you can imagine, but what is Glass | | | | further, so before you finalize your next design, |
| Reinforced plastic and what can it be used for? | | | | consider Glass reinforced plastic composite as |
| GRP, Glass Reinforced Plastic opens up fantastic | | | | your material of choice. |
| possibilities and delivers fantastic results...... | | | | Some Examples of Glass reinforced plastic |
| Glass reinforced plastic (also known as fibreglass), | | | | moulded products, |
| is a composite material that consists of strands of | | | | - Construction, architectural facades, internal & |
| glass fibre suspended in a polymer matrix, i.e. | | | | external cladding, canopies and columns, domed |
| resin; which results in a material that combines the | | | | structures, bespoke building features, and much |
| compressive strength of plastic and the tensile | | | | more….. |
| strength of glass fibre, thus resulting in a | | | | - Leisure, water slides, theme park rides, play |
| composite material that can withstand | | | | equipment, swimming pool liners and much |
| compressive and tensile loads, but this strength | | | | more…….. |
| can be further enhanced with the addition of | | | | - Marine, boat hulls and other components, ship |
| reinforcements or more exotic fibres such as | | | | parts, life raft enclosures, pontoons, and much |
| Kevlar or carbon fibre, both of these fires can be | | | | more…. |
| woven into a cloth with various fibre orientations | | | | - Automotive, body shells, spoilers, body kits, |
| such as, uni-directional, bi-axial, tri-axial, and | | | | truck wind deflectors, trailer shells, and much |
| quad-axial weaves, but these cloths are normally | | | | more…. |
| employed in more hi-end products like formula | | | | - Aerospace, fuselages, cowling, aircraft |
| one racing cars ect. | | | | components, micro-lights, and much more…. |
| The most popular polymer matrix of choice is | | | | - Bespoke, enclosures, buildings, furniture, |
| normally polyester resin, but there are others | | | | housings, specialist applications and much |
| available, Such as Vinyl-ester, epoxy, | | | | more……. |
| polyurethane, to mention but a few, but the fibre | | | | As you can see there are many uses for Glass |
| and resin choice is normally based on the end use | | | | reinforced plastic, you probably see various |
| of the moulded product and the criteria laid down | | | | moulded products each day, but you never |
| by the client. | | | | realised until now, so next time you go out, pick |
| Glass reinforced plastic has few constrains or | | | | something that you walk past, it could be some |
| design limitations, the typical properties of this | | | | thing simple like a post box or a canopy on the |
| modern day material allow it to be easily moulded | | | | front of a building, give thought to how it could be |
| into products of any size, shape, or colour, yet | | | | moulded, how many pieces would the mould need |
| fantastic results can be achieved at a | | | | to be, what materials would be appropriate for |
| competitively low cost when compared with other | | | | the product, and so on, this process can throw up |
| more conventional materials, further more, these | | | | some interesting problems for you to overcome, |
| moulded components can be light weight, strong, | | | | but the real test will be for you to mould a |
| with low maintenance requirements, and can be | | | | product in Glass reinforced plastic, give it a try. |
| manufactured to meet specific requirements like | | | | |