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New markets for the Sandwich Plate System (SPS™) |
Polyurethane and other foams
New markets for the Sandwich Plate System (SPS™)
Presented by Georg Knoblauch, Project Manager SPS™, Elastogran GmbH, Olching
Trade Press Conference K 2004, June 22, 2004, Ludwigshafen, Germany
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After more than five years of development by BASF's subsidiary Elastogran and Intelligent Engineering Ltd., the use of the patented SPS technology continues to grow in the maritime industry for repair and construction of ships. The technology is now starting to be used in the civil engineering market.
SPS™, the Sandwich Plate System, is a steel-PU-steel composite. Two steel plates are integrally bonded to a solid PU elastomer core, tradename Elastocore™. SPS replaces stiffened steel plates in maritime and civil engineering structures and offers numerous benefits over conventional structures in terms of design, performance, safety and cost (figure 1).
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SPS elements: simple and strong
In SPS, the PU core provides continuous support to two steel face-plates creating a globally stiff structure with no need for secondary stiffening and significantly reduced built complexity. This in turn reduces the number of welds. And because welds are typical starting points for corrosion and fatigue, the through-life economics are improved and the structure’s service life increased.
As a result of the combination of steel and PU material characteristics SPS exhibits a high load-bearing capacity that also prolongs the structure's service life. In the case of a severe impact – as occurs during a ship's collision for example – SPS elements reduce the likelihood of the vessel's hull being punctured and the risk of subsequent catastrophic failure (figure 2).
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Low weight and fast construction: SPS in civil engineering
The fact that SPS structures are significantly lighter than conventional ones makes the technology a real alternative to reinforced-concrete in civil engineering structures. For example, in a road bridge built in November 2003 by SPS licensee Canam Manac Group Inc., in Saint Martin de Beauce, Canada, SPS saved 60% of the weight of the 22-meter bridge deck when compared to concrete. The erection time was also much shorter since the SPS elements were fabricated off-site and then delivered ready for installation (figure 4).
The bridge is a reference object for a market with high growth potential. For example, ThyssenKrupp Technologies, another SPS licensee, is currently evaluating the feasibility of the technology for mobile bridge elements in road construction. The bridge elements are currently put through repetitive fatigue tests, which are being monitored by the Steel Construction Department of the Aachen University of Technology (RWTH) as an independent scientific institution.
Another civil engineering application has been developed for sport stadia and arenas where SPS offers many performance and erection benefits. SPS bleachers or terraces are 70% lighter than conventional concrete bleachers and are very effective at absorbing the vibrations induced by spectators jumping to their feet (figure 5).
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New applications in shipbuilding
For maritime applications, SPS technology was introduced to the market in January 2001 with the so-called SPS overlay technology for the repair of ships' decks and cargo holds. To date, 27 repair projects have been completed, involving an area of over 28,000 square metres. SPS is many times faster and much less disruptive than conventional repair techniques (figure 6).
The commercial use of SPS for maritime new building commenced last year with the completion of several maritime structures: The hull mid-sections of river barges built from SPS elements are, for example, much easier to maintain and less prone to corrosion than conventional stiffened structures.
Another application is the funnel casing of truck ferries. By using pre-fabricated SPS elements it was possible to gain additional space - space that would otherwise have been lost to stiffeners. The space saving also resulted from the built-in 60 minutes fire protection of the SPS elements with no need of applying a rock wool fire barrier (figure 8).
BASF has signed an exclusive co-operation agreement with Intelligent Engineering Ltd. for further development of the innovative Sandwich Plate System. Working together with the licensees, the large volume markets for both maritime and civil new build applications, will be developed in the coming years.
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