I’m sure most have heard someone say, “Oh, that’s just a bad material.” I would suggest that, “There are no bad materials, only bad material selections.” There is no silver bullet in materials, i.e. one material that is good for every application, and cheap too. Most materials have their sweet spots, environments where they shine and offer long service life at economic costs.
In industrial processing plants, when an FRP or nonmetallic component fails, the material itself often gets blamed. However, upon closer inspection, the root cause is frequently improper resin selection, lack of chemical compatibility verification, inadequate structural reinforcement, or exceeding thermal design limits.
Working with experienced nonmetallic engineers during the material selection process ensures that the chosen resin system and laminate construction match the exact chemical exposure, pressure, temperature, and mechanical stress requirements of your process.