Vosper Thornycroft

Warship builder Vosper Thornycroft, initially a SCRIMP licensee, subsequently developed its own method for single-shot infusion of up to 30 laminate plies, including heavy shipbuilding fabrics, and complex structures with inserts, cores, stiffeners and festeners. Since vacuum bags are used for consolidation rather than precision matched tooling, set-up costs are modest and labor is said to be halved compared with hand lay-up. 

At the upper end of the glass technology scale, GRP is the basis for Sandown class mine hunters built by Vosper Thornycroft for the UK Royal Navy using a proprietary infusion process. A number of navies have selected FRP for the structures of mine countermeasures vessels since it provides immunity to magnetic influence mines. 

The process has been licensed to some 30 organizations worldwide. The UK shipbuilder Vosper Thornycroft uses it for molding large bulkhead panels for minehunters and believes that laminates can be developed to meet stringent new regulations, such as the latest International Marine Organization (IMO) code (which some have feared would spell the end of TS polyesters in fabrication of primary marine structures). 

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