Construction
The manufacturing process begins with the manufacture of mini-macrospheres. This process starts with unique spherical formers. Each sphere is coated with several fibre reinforced composite layers, which are progressively applied in larger tumblers. The thickness of the coating varies and is dependent upon the specific, designed application depth. Thorough quality checks (density, buoyancy, crush strength) are performed at every stage.
After a quality inspection, the mould tool is internally lined with glass fibre reinforcement and the mini-macrospheres are fed into the mould under air pressure. The moulds are vibrated to ensure as complete a fill as possible, this also ensures uniform material properties of density and structural integrity for the finished product.
The pure syntactic foam is mixed under strictly controlled conditions. This is then injected into the mould in a dedicated vacuum chamber. Filling under vacuum ensures a complete fill of the voids between the spheres. It also removes any air that may have been trapped in the mould or the final product.
The filled moulds are then placed in ovens where the curing process takes place. Temperatures are carefully monitored and controlled throughout the ramp-up and cool-down of the cure cycle.
After demoulding, the product is finished, coated and colour coded for its depth rating and then undergoes a number of dimensional, air weight and buoyancy checks.