Tough as steel, but made for the road

How do you build a composite hangar that is as sturdy as a concrete or steel building, but is still fully transportable? That was the challenge for Dasyc SA, a Greek manufacturer of bulk molding compound, thermoplastics and composites production, in the design of their composite hangar for civilian and military applications.

The answer was a hangar constructed of prefabricated composite panels that are connected together to form arches. They can be easily transported and assembled in a designated location. The sandwich-type panels, which are manufactured using a vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process, are 80mm thick and consist of a hard polyurethane core material between two laminate skins of glass fiber-reinforced polyester resin.

Dasyc choose HiMax^™ glass fiber fabrics made by Hexcel Reinforcements UK, a leading advanced composites company based in Leicester, England. The fabric consists of four layers of E-glass fibers aligned in the 0°/-45°/90°/+45° orientations and stitched together with polyester thread.

The hangars can be installed easily and quickly using standard tools and a crane. Panels are assembled with the use of screws and bolts, and elastic gaskets are used to seal the joints. The length of each hangar is dependent on the number of arches used.

Dasyc has delivered three hangars to the Hellenic Air Force, each of which contains 40 tons of glass fiber reinforcements.