Permali meets latest UK MoD fire retardancy standards

Extensive mechanical and fire, smoke and toxicity (FST) testing to the new Defence Standard 07-247 has been carried out to validate the new material’s suitability for the demanding deck safety applications. UK MoD fire retardancy  standards have become even more stringent since the first Permali composite stanchions were fitted on the decks of Royal Navy ships more than 30 years ago.

“The challenge was to achieve the fire performance required by this more demanding MoD FST standard without introducing the mechanical performance loss typically associated with the addition of fire retardant fillers. Working with our customers and the MoD regulatory team, we have managed to develop a technical solution which provides the right balance of properties needed for this next generation of naval stanchions. Permaglass XGR2/4 is now specified for manufacturing all four types of safety systems that Permali supplies for naval vessels,” Steve Benn, Permali Technical Manager for composites, said in a press release.

Defence Standard 07-247 is the latest, more stringent MoD fire, smoke and toxicity (FST) performance standard for naval vessels. The Royal Navy and other navies around the world specify Permali’s lightweight, high performance GRP products to protect crew personnel and equipment on weather decks, flight decks, and walkways. All deck safety systems developed for Royal Naval vessels are MoD approved and rigorously tested to ensure that they meet specified DNV and Lloyds register regulatory standards.

Current naval vessels in service fitted with Permali supplied deck safety systems include: Visby class corvettes; RN Type 45 destroyers and Type 23 frigates; RFA Bay class support ships; the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, famed for being the biggest, most advanced warships ever built for the Royal Navy. In addition to naval ships, the specialist polar exploration vessel the RRS Sir David Attenborough is also fitted with Permali deck safety systems to protect personnel while on the flight deck.

Permali designs, manufactures and supplies a vast range of bespoke FRP composite panels, components, and systems, based on a wide variety of resins, fibres, cores, and adhesives for a wide range of safety critical military and civil land, sea and air applications. The Permali product range also includes standard and bespoke Tuftane aromatic thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastic films.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)