SPS may open new market

23 April 2001 00:00  [Source: ICB]

BASF hopes that the Sandwich Plate System (SPS) that its Elastogran subsidiary has developed with Intelligent Engineering will open a new market for its poly-urethane.

SPS is a construction method, which BASF claims offers a considerable weight reduction in modern shipbuilding, but, additionally, the steel-polyurethane-steel laminate system offers greater structural strength than conventional components.

In SPS, the elastomer is simply injected between the two steel plates in place of longitudinal rib reinforcements. BASF said SPS is better able to withstand mechanical stress than conventional all-steel construction as the continuous elastomer layer dissipates stress over larger areas, reducing hard spots where ribs are welded to the plates.

About 2000 ships are built each year. Jean-Pierre Dhanis, president of BASF Polyurethanes, commented that as even a small tanker with a gross registered tonnage of 40 000 tonne uses around 1500 tonne of polyurethane elastomer, the potential sales of SPS in the coming years is enormous.

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