New Standard for Fiberglass Grating
The American Composites Manufacturers Assn. (ACMA, Arlington, Va., USA), an American National Standards (ANS) developer, has issued a new Fiberglass Grating Manual Standard to educate engineers, designers and end-users about the properties, performance and uses of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) grating.
FRP grating, a composite product manufactured by combining a matrix of resin and fiberglass, is used in many different industries, for walkways in industrial plants to flooring on ships to decorative grids on commercial and residential buildings. FRP grating is durable, lightweight and corrosion resistant, making it preferable in many applications to steel, which can rust and corrode in extreme environments. To purchase the standard, please contact cct@acmanet.org.
Aldred D'Souza, P.E., director of engineering/design at Fibergrate Composite Structures, Inc. (Dallas, Texas, USA) and Gregory Bond, P.E., structural engineer at Strongwell – Chatfield Division (Chatfield, Minn., USA), are members of ACMA's Fiberglass Grating Manufacturers Council. According to D'Souza, the new Standard will help open and expand markets, since there is now a 'national standard' for FRP grating. An ANSI-approved standard provides credibility to the use of FRP grating with specifying engineers and designers. With more FRP grating being specified for a larger number of applications, overall market growth is inevitable.
Bond says that the new manual informs engineers and users of the capabilities of FRP grating, which can carry loads similar to steel grating and has the ability to function much better in corrosive environments when compared to steel. The benefits to the public that will result from this standard include:
- 1) an ANSI standard to which engineers and designers can confidently specify fiberglass grating, and
- 2) faster adoption of fiberglass grating into the model building codes as a traditional building material.
Says D'Souza, "The standard provides a benchmark for FRP grating performance and provides an understanding of grating manufacturing processes, grating product standards and grating installation."
Adds Bond, "The standard is needed to communicate to engineers, contractors, and owners that FRP grating is a viable alternative to steel grating and is actually the better choice in many applications. The availability and ease of installation should alleviate concerns about using a "premium" product."To read more, visit the ACMA blog site: http://www.compositesmanufacturingblog.com/
