Façade Fletcher hotel Amsterdam_

This Fletcher hotel is a real eye-catcher and is centrally located along the A2 and A9 highways, at the entrance of Amsterdam. Solico engineered the futuristic curved shaped façade. Steel brackets have been fixed to the main concrete structure of the building, to which the prefab GRP elements have been installed. The round windows integrated in the GRP elements are engineered in a double curved surface and consist of circular double glass units. 

Façade Windesheim college, Zwolle_

The façade comprises of large lightweight composite panels which integrate multiple functions: structure, insulation and aesthetics. Because of the lightweight structure, panels of quite large sizes could be produced, therefore ensuring time and cost savings during the assembly process. The production of the panels also happened in parallel to the process of the building being built. 

Translucent canopy, Aalst_

An innovative Canopy for the new bus station in Aalst, Belgium was manufactured and placed by PolyProducts. Solico was responsible for the engineering of this challenging project. This is a genuine innovative project which shows that composites are not only very durable and strong but can look good as well. 

Design and engineering of composite products is our core business_

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Why composites?

High strength

In general, fiber reinforced plastics outperform metals (e.g. steel and aluminium) in strength.

Fatigue

The fatigue resistance of composites is much better than that of metals. Of course fatigue failure also occurs in GRP and CFRP and has to be analysed in detail.

Aesthetics

Slender constructions and seamless façades are examples of aesthetics driven design. These type of structures are impossible to construct with traditional materials.

Non-magnetic

The non-magnetic properties of glassfiber reinforced composites are a major advantage especially in sonar and radar applications.

High stiffness to weight ratio

The stiffness to weight ratio of a high modulus carbon fiber construction is typically 5 times higher than steel or aluminium.

Freedom of geometry

Double curved shapes are easily produced in composite materials at almost no extra cost. For production of limited series the relatively low moulding costs are an additional benefit.

Lightweight

The specific weight of composites varies between 1.5 and 2.0 compared to 2.7 to 7.8 for aluminium and steel.

Integration of functions

By combining functions such as strength and insulation in one product, a composite solution is often more cost effective than the sum of traditional solutions.

Sonar/Radar Transparency

Composites are very well known for their transparency to radar and low damping properties.

Chemical/corrosion resistance

Composite materials are resistant to a lot of chemical products such as acids, hydroxides, crude oil, etc. Corrosion resistance against salt and seawater is excellent.

Low maintenance

Steel structures typically require periodic maintenance such as conservation and paint systems to prevent corrosion. Composites are not susceptible to corrosion resulting in lower Life-cycle costs.

Insulation

Typical GRP lambda values are 1, compared to 50 for steel and 237 for aluminium, which results in excellent insulation properties.

Cost effectiveness

Though composite materials themselves are slightly more expensive than metals, combining properties such as insulation and weight savings often results in a cost effective product.

Limited thermal expansion

Thermal expansion of composite materials can be tuned. Depending on the fiber used it can vary between 0 and 30 where steel has an alpha of 12.