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Composite Roof and Wall Cladding Panel Design Guide
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When any thin skins are bonded to a lightweight core,
a sandwich or composite panel is formed. By assembling
individually flexible materials in this way, very light
but rigid panels are created, optimising the properties
of each component.
One of the early applications which made use of this
type of construction was the Mosquito aircraft in the
1940s. Here, thin plywood skins were bonded to a balsa
wood core to form the fuselage. Many aircraft components
still use the same technology today, often using aluminium
skins and honeycomb core.
The same basic construction is now used in a great variety
of other applications from sophisticated space craft to
relatively 'low tech' domestic doors.
A large range of materials can be used but if metal sheets
are combined with a core which has good thermal insulation
properties the composite panel formed is an ideal building
element for roof and wall cladding.
By using standard pre-finished metal facings, already
commonly used as cladding sheets, a factory-finished composite
cladding panel can be made. This one-piece product combines
a lining sheet, insulation and outer sheet, so it can
be quickly and simply fixed on site, providing both high
quality and reliability. This type of panel was first
manufactured in the 1960s and its share of the market
has grown steadily all over the world ever since.
Today the panels are used for cladding the roofs and
walls of many industrial and commercial buildings.
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