Bonding composites in various industries

For the past 40 years, shipbuilding has been a key area for the use of composite materials, in particular glass-reinforced polyester (GRP), to replace putrescible wood with materials that are insensitive to marine corrosion and seawater, while ensuring excellent buoyancy and making it possible to produce large, solid hollow volumes at low cost.

For medium-sized boats (pleasure craft, fishing boats, large racing catamarans, as well as small commercial vessels or minehunters that don't need metal hulls), we build voluminous hulls in polyester-glass laminates, on which we assemble ribs, longitudinal and torque reinforcements, which are also made of composite materials (pultruded...) that can be glued or laminated together.

But composites are now also used in other industries:

• glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) in the building industry ;

• carbon fibres in golf clubs and Formula 1 cars:

• GRP in chemical engineering ;

• composites based on high-performance mechanical plastics.

They can draw inspiration from the bonding techniques used in industries that have been leaders in the use of composites, such as aeronautics, automotive and shipbuilding, and use the same adhesives.

In any industry, technology transfer is always possible, fruitful and innovative.