Composite Marine Masts

Marine standards require high material property as well as reliable and standardized product quality. This makes using composite products in the marine industry hard because of the reliability. Therefore, composite products to be used in the boats, ships or yachts must meet the requirements of international marine standards depending on the vehicle type.

Composite Masts

Composite masts are an effective solution for the marine industry by reducing weight and therefore fuel consumption. Carbon fiber masts can be convenient for the marine industry standards with proper manufacturing and strength.

Due to their long length, manufacturing and providing high strength can be difficult. When considering the composite materials for the mast, carbon fiber is the ideal material for both high strength and low weight. Carbon fiber offers a significantly increased strength and durability as well as corrosion resistance mast for the marine industry.

Important Solution of Filament Winding

Filament winding offers a unique solution for composite marine masts as well as other composite products. The key point for composite mast manufacturing with filament winding is the length of the masts. General marine masts are longer than that common filament wound parts. They are usually over 2 meters depending on the boat or yacht size. Thus, this makes production even harder compared with other composite products in the industry.,

Considering the common composite manufacturing methods such as hand lay-up, filament winding provides a reliable and ideal solution for the long masts. Hand lay-up depends on human ability and cannot be performed automatically with the same material quality standard. High and reliable material quality is crucial for the marine industry as it requires marine standards. Therefore, basically hand- the lay-up method is not a suitable solution for the marine industry. However, the filament winding process with automated lines and algorithms can easily handle manufacturing long-length masts with stable quality and desired fiber orientation. Required stiffness and material quality can be achieved with the process.

Overall, filament winding opens a door to the marine industry with:

- Superior stiffness with carbon fiber

- Low weight thus low fuel consumption

- Marine quality — reliable composite products

- Corrosion-resistant and long durability

- Eco-friendly and longer vehicle life