Strong but lightweight curved panels are used in a wide variety of applications, in the rail, marine and architectural sectors, allowing companies to save on weight, cost and materials.

As well as a single curve, BCP has experience of manufacturing panels that include multiple arcs and bends. An example of this is a project for the railway industry that required the production of a large number of aluminium honeycomb panels. These incorporate multiple curves to form the walls of Universally Accessible Toilets (UAT) on trains. Unusually, the curves in each panel have different radiuses and face in opposite directions.

BCP’s flat and curved panels consist of aluminium honeycomb core sandwiched in between two aluminium alloy skins. To form the curves, a steel jig is used which ensures all panels for each toilet wall are produced consistently to the customer’s specification.

Once complete, the panels have a High-Pressure laminate applied to provide a durable and visually appealing finish in the train operating company’s brand colours. The laminate is impact, abrasion and surface wear resistant, as well as water resistant, which makes it ideal for washroom environments. This High-Pressure Laminate is also available in a flame-retardant grade, which is necessary for compliance with rail industry standard EN45545-2 for fire safety.

 

Wall panels with multiple curves are often used in architectural applications as they provide softer lines to divide spaces. A curved wall panel can guide a visitor into a room improving its flow or multiple curves can add visual interest with a wave-like feature wall.

In a marine environment curved panels can be used to reflect the shape of the vessel and enable more fittings to be incorporated. A multi-curved panel provides the opportunity to create a striking effect replicating the waves in the sea.

If you are working on a project where weight, space and finish are critical and would like to incorporate curved panels, please contact the BCP team to discuss this further. Our engineers are specialists in post form laminates and can apply a High-Pressure Laminate finish to composite panels with both flat surfaces and curves.