Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure

The foam fender
production process

Foam fenders are produced using a fender building machine to construct a foam core on top of a metal mandrel. A resilient PE closed-cell foam strip or sheet is used as the main energy absorbing component of foam fenders. By applying heat, these foam strips or sheets are laminated together to form a one-piece integral structure.

The use of this foam filled construction process makes the fender unsinkable and able to function even if punctured.

The outer layer, which covers the foam core, is constructed through a spraying process which uses a special synthetic polyurethane or polyurea elastomer. This layer is reinforced with nylon tire cord filaments during spraying process.

Multiple layers of continuous nylon filament reinforcements are applied, using a filament winding machine, to produce a high strength reinforced coating. The filament winding process produces a fender skin that has reinforcing fibres oriented in the optimal direction for maximum strength. Due to continuous filament winding, local loadings are distributed over a wide area of fender surface, minimizing stresses in the fender skin and increasing its tensile strength.