Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastics

TDC International uses customizable glass-fibre reinforced plastics (GRP) mechanical protection for steel pipes, field joints and other products.

 

What is Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastics (GRP)?

Glass fibre reinforced plastic (GRP), also called fibre glass, is a composite typically made of polyester resins and glass fibres. The strands of fibres allow the material to be strong along their longitudinal axis. The individual components of the material can be processed in such a way that the product properties can be flexibly formulated into practically any requirements.

GRP offers many convincing advantages such as:

  • It can be stronger than wood, concrete or ceramic materials while at the same time being lighter in weight

  • Its extreme corrosion-resistant characteristic – one of its key features

  • Its good resilience to chemicals, high temperature, mechanical scratches and impacts

  • Its good insulating properties, excellent weather resistance and low thermal conductivity

  • Its great design flexibility in the application and moulding process

GRP also serves as a load-bearing construction material in a wide spectrum of areas. Together with its classical applications in shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing and aircraft construction, in recent years GRP has also become an established product in the various other building and construction industries.

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GRP’s mechanical protection allows us to create a unified mechanical protection system. A smooth transition between the factory applied and the field applied material is possible in order to avoid concentration of forces at the girth weld areas. This is fundamental for achieving a defect-free coating across the entire pipe string in trenchless installations.

Stefan WittkeSales Manager at TDC International