Glass Reinforced Plastic

GRP, Glass Reinforced Plastic, better known as fibreglass,

GRP, Glass Reinforced Plastic, offers designers unparalleled design freedom and flexibility, this unique composite material can be moulded into any products you can imagine, but what is Glass Reinforced plastic and what can it be used for?


GRP, Glass Reinforced Plastic opens up fantastic possibilities and delivers fantastic results......

Glass reinforced plastic (also known as fibreglass), is a composite material that consists of strands of glass fibre suspended in a polymer matrix, i.e. resin; which results in a material that combines the compressive strength of plastic and the tensile strength of glass fibre, thus resulting in a composite material that can withstand compressive and tensile loads, but this strength can be further enhanced with the addition of reinforcements or more exotic fibres such as Kevlar or carbon fibre, both of these fires can be woven into a cloth with various fibre orientations such as, uni-directional, bi-axial, tri-axial, and quad-axial weaves, but these cloths are normally employed in more hi-end products like formula one racing cars ect. The most popular polymer matrix of choice is normally polyester resin, but there are others available, Such as Vinyl-ester, epoxy, polyurethane, to mention but a few, but the fibre and resin choice is normally based on the end use of the moulded product and the criteria laid down by the client.

Glass reinforced plastic has few constrains or design limitations, the typical properties of this modern day material allow it to be easily moulded into products of any size, shape, or colour, yet fantastic results can be achieved at a competitively low cost when compared with other more conventional materials, further more, these moulded components can be light weight, strong, with low maintenance requirements, and can be manufactured to meet specific requirements like fire- retardantcy, chemical-resistance, or be resilient to environmental extremes, in short this outstanding modern day composite material has great potential for designers, architects, and end-uses alike, pushing the design boundaries further, so before you finalize your next design, consider Glass reinforced plastic composite as your material of choice.

Some Examples of Glass reinforced plastic moulded products,

• Construction, architectural facades, internal & external cladding, canopies and columns, domed structures, bespoke building features, and much more…..
• Leisure, water slides, theme park rides, play equipment, swimming pool liners and much more……..
• Marine, boat hulls and other components, ship parts, life raft enclosures, pontoons, and much more….
• Automotive, body shells, spoilers, body kits, truck wind deflectors, trailer shells, and much more….
• Aerospace, fuselages, cowling, aircraft components, micro-lights, and much more….
• Bespoke, enclosures, buildings, furniture, housings, specialist applications and much more…….

 As you can see there are many uses for Glass reinforced plastic, you probably see various moulded products each day, but you never realised until now, so next time you go out, pick something that you walk past, it could be some thing simple like a post box or a canopy on the front of a building, give thought to how it could be moulded, how many pieces would the mould need to be, what materials would be appropriate for the product, and so on, this process can throw up some interesting problems for you to overcome, but the real test will be for you to mould a product in Glass reinforced plastic, give it a try.