Glass Fiber Fiberglass Coat Refrigerated Truck Panel

FRP is widely used in all kinds of refrigerated trucks. Small refrigerated trucks often use FRP because of its light weight, which can effectively reduce the weight of the vehicle body, improve the flexibility and fuel economy of the vehicle, and is suitable for short-distance delivery in the city. Van refrigerated trucks also use FRP in large quantities. Its high strength and corrosion resistance can ensure that the car body will not deform or corrode during long-term use, providing a stable transportation environment for goods. In addition, in some large refrigerated trailers, FRP is also used to make some parts to improve overall performance.

FRP composite panels (FRP composite panels) are lightweight, high-performance materials made of glass fiber reinforced materials and resin matrix. They have been widely used in the field of refrigerated car manufacturing in recent years. Their unique physical and chemical properties make them an ideal choice to replace traditional metal or ordinary composite panels. The specific advantages are as follows:

(1) Dual advantages of lightweight and high strength

The density of FRP composite panels is only 1.5-2.0g/cm³, which is more than 60% lighter than traditional steel panels and can significantly reduce the vehicle's own weight. 

2.Excellent thermal insulation performance

The sandwich structure of polyurethane/polystyrene core material has a thermal conductivity as low as 0.022W/(m·K). Compared with ordinary metal compartments, it reduces heat conduction loss by more than 40%. The continuous insulation layer formed by the closed-cell foaming process effectively blocks the cold bridge effect and can reduce the energy consumption of the refrigeration unit by 15%-20%. This is especially important for pharmaceutical cold chain transportation that requires precise temperature control (±2℃).

(3) Modular design and environmental benefits

The one-step molding process can achieve precise control of the box panel size (tolerance ±1mm), and the assembly efficiency is improved by 30%. The overall sealing of the non-welded structure is better, eliminating air leakage. The material recyclability rate exceeds 85%, and the VOC emissions during the production process are reduced by 60% compared with traditional processes, which complies with the EU REACH environmental protection standards.

The FRP refrigerated compartment panel adopts a "sandwich" composite structure, consisting of an outer gel coat protective layer (0.5-0.8mm), an intermediate glass fiber reinforcement layer (2-3mm) and a polyurethane foam core layer (50-100mm). This structure achieves multiple thermal insulation through the synergistic effect of materials: the gel coat layer acts as a dense barrier with a water absorption rate of less than 0.3%, which can block 98% of water vapor penetration and prevent moisture from invading the foam layer and causing the thermal conductivity to increase; the glass fiber layer forms a heat conduction maze path through disordered fiber bundles, reducing the radial heat conduction efficiency by 40%; the polyurethane core layer has a closed-cell rate of more than 95%, a density of 40-60kg/m³, and its internal honeycomb structure controls air convection heat loss to less than 5%. Experimental data show that the thermal resistance of the composite structure reaches 3.2-4.5 (m²·K)/W, which is 80 times that of a single-layer aluminum alloy panel.

The thermal insulation effect of FRP refrigerated compartment panels mainly comes from their multi-layer composite structure and material properties. Its thermal conductivity (0.25-0.4W/(m·K)) is only 1/60 of stainless steel and 1/900 of aluminum alloy, effectively blocking external heat transfer. The combination of the gel coat layer and the glass fiber reinforcement layer forms a continuous sealed interface, eliminating the common cold bridge effect of metal materials, and reducing the overall heat transfer coefficient (K value) of the compartment to below 0.3W/(m²·K). Actual tests show that at an ambient temperature of 35°C, the temperature rise of a FRP compartment loaded with -18°C frozen products is ≤2°C within 8 hours, which is better than a metal compartment (temperature rise of 3-5°C). Its polyurethane sandwich layer with a closed porosity of ＞95% further reduces heat convection losses, and combined with the moisture-proof properties of the gel coat layer Avoid the loss of cooling capacity caused by condensed water freezing. This material can achieve energy saving of 15%-20% in cold chain transportation, and is particularly suitable for the transportation of goods that are highly sensitive to temperature, such as medicines and fresh produce.