Composite Panels for Bus Floors

The bus floor can be said to be an important par of the bus.  A good bus floor should have the following performance characteristics.

● Low density, meeting lightweight requirements;

● No formaldehyde release;

● Waterproof, no mildew;  easy to cut;

● It has good nail-holding power and meets the installation requirements;

● It has good recyclability and meets environmental protection requirements;

● Thermal insulation and sound insulation performance, meeting the “NVH" requirements of automobiles;

● At the same time, it must have higher strength, because the bus floor is laid on the chassis and the chassis has different spacing;

● To have a lower life-cycle cost, including lower maintenance costs to meet business requirements.

Defects in Existing Bus Floors

At present, there are various types of floors used in the bus industry, mainly bamboo plywood, wood plywood, honeycomb aluminum panel, etc.

● Bamboo plywood and wood plywood are currently the most used bus floors.  The main disadvantages are formaldehyde release, high density, easy to mold and rot, high maintenance costs, and cannot be recycled;

● The main disadvantage of the honeycomb aluminum panel is that it is prone to distortion and deformation, and the honeycomb structure is easy to accumulate water and breeds bacteria.

Fiberglass Composite Bus Flooring.

The use of fiberglass sandwich panels as bus floors can reduce the weight of the vehicle and reduce floor maintenance and repair work. Because of its very good impact resistance, it can absorb and disperse the impact when it is hit by an external force.  At the same time, it meets the requirements of safety, environmental protection,light weight, and flame retardancy, completely replaces wooden floors, solves the waterproof and fireproof defects of traditional wooden boards, and has a longer service life.

1. PET Foam Sandwich Panels

The skin of the PET sandwich composite panel is a continuous fiberglass prepreg tape, and the fiber direction generally includes 0°+45° and 90°, which greatly improves the bending strength of the panel.  Closed-cell PET foam is an extruded foam sheet that absorbs very little water.  By changing the density of PET foam, it has a strong ability to hold nails.

2. Polypropylene Honeycomb Panels

The skin of the polypropylene honeycomb panel is also made of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic sheet.  Due to the honeycomb structure, it has a high weight ratio.

Honeycomb sandwich panels can effectively absorb energy when impacted.  In various weight-sensitive applications, thermoplastic honeycomb panels are an effective means of reducing mass, which has positive implications for reducing production costs and environmental protection.