As a well-known manufacturer of fibreglass composite products, Striking Distance in Queensland, Australia, has been contracted by Quick Corp Fire Engineering to deliver a fibreglass tank for the company’s new off-road fire tanker. The company’s existing tankers use polyethylene tanks to carry water and the task was set to design a tank that was both lighter and could carry more water to improve the effectiveness of the tanker in a fire emergency situation.
CCG’s Australian office was contracted by Striking Distance to conduct the engineering design of a tank to meet the design brief. To achieve this initial concept designs were drawn up in 3D to allow the client to quickly review changes.
The final design of the tank used infused Divinycell foam cored sandwich panels with E-Glass skins and vinylester resin to reduce weight yet maintain structural strength. To further increase the carrying capacity of the tank the foam core was reduced in thickness. The final core specification was Divinycell H100 15mm thick. The total weight saving of the final tank was 250kg compared to the original design.
