La construction navale optimisée. Le choix de matériaux d'âme et la fabrication sont étroitement liés

Sandwich panels with a facing of laminated fibre reinforced plastics are now established boatbuilding materials. In the last few years they have begun to replace the traditional metal and wood in ship and marine construction. Today's materials are usually selected on the basis of minimum cost and simplicity of construction. This is often contrary to the demands of the owner who wants an inexpensive, safe, easy-care and long-lasting ship. The requirements of boatbuilder and operator can easily be satisfied if the combination of the best choice of materials and new, rationalized construction methods are considered. Taking the construction of the boat "Sandwich" as an example we will demonstrate the increased importance of the tough rigid linear PVC foam core materials and how this property is used to advantage in an integrated overhead construction.