Pneumatic fender&Foam fender,Which one is better？

Foam-filled fender

Foam fender is a high-performance fender that has attracted more and more attention. Take it apart to see the structure inside. It consists of an inner steel core, a closed-cell foam layer, a reinforcing cord layer and an outer elastomer surface layer.

The outer elastomer surface layer is usually made of a corrosion-resistant polyurea coating.Generally speaking, for ships, the "closed-cell foam" used in these fenders are usually materials such as EVA or PE .The full name of EVA foam material is Ethylene Vinyl Acetat, which is a fairly environmentally friendly plastic packaging material and relatively new. EVA is characterized by good softness, rubber-like elasticity, good flexibility at -50°C, good transparency and surface gloss, good chemical stability, good anti-aging and ozone resistance , Non-toxic. The foam fender sold by SunHelm is the EVA foam inner core.PE (polyethylene plastic) foam is a high-molecular low-density foam material. It is made of polyethylene resin as the main body, adding foaming agent, crosslinking agent and other additives. Stable chemical properties, toughness, flexibility, friction resistance, is an ideal cushioning materialFoam fenders in marine applications are usually EVA or PE foam.The biggest characteristic of these two materials is first of all their resistance to water absorption. This means that they do not absorb water, so they are very suitable for marine use. In addition, both generally provide effective energy absorption and good chemical resistance.The weight absorption ratio is quite good, so they are used as fenders. If the weight is too heavy, they will be difficult to deploy. It has the advantages of good moisture resistance, buffering, chemical corrosion resistance, etc., and does not absorb water.

The pneumatic fender is made of rubber and reinforced cord layers. Because of its high performance and affordable price, it has always been popular in the marine transportation industry.This kind of fender needs to be inflated when used to absorb collision energy during berthing.Similar to foam fenders, these rubber floating fenders are relatively light (in terms of their size) and provide excellent cushioning due to the internal gas filling.

The difference between the two type

1. Usage and performance

Both have focus on usage. Foam fenders are mostly used to protect piers and bridge piers. The super large floating foam fender can also increase the berthing depth of the ship and achieve the purpose of upgrading the wharf. In practice, inflatable fenders are mostly used for offshore operations such as STS, which are easy to deploy and can be quickly applied.In terms of performance, foam fenders are more effective in energy absorption. It has been reported that foam-filled fenders absorb 40% more energy than pneumatic fenders.However, the performance of the foam fender actually depends on the manufacturer.In order to save costs, many manufacturers use very poor inner core materials for foam fenders. Although the price is cheap, some customers report that they become deformed without using it a few times during use. The deformed foam fender can no longer be used. Most of its energy absorption function has been lost, and it is likely to cause damage to your boat.Therefore, when purchasing foam fenders, it is best to check and order from manufacturers who have a good record of delivering quality products.The inflatable pneumaric fenders and foam fenders of SunHelm Marine are both high-quality products in the industry, and have been praised by hundreds of countries on four continents around the world.If you need product solutions for pneumatic fenders and foam fenders, please contact us immediately!

2. Durability

The durability of fenders is more difficult to measure. Although most manufacturers have stated the service life of their products, the actual environmental conditions and frequency of use will greatly affect this value. So there is no reference.However, an obvious advantage of foam-filled type over inflatable rubber fenders is that they will not leak air.When Yokohama-type pneumatic fenders are punctured, they can no longer function. But with foam fenders, they can still be used for a short period of time, although the energy absorption efficiency is much lower.SunHelm Terminator inflatable fender generally has a service life of more than 10 years, which is similar to the service life of foam fenders. But please note that the external hot-dip galvanized chain and tire net must be replaced every 2-3 years to ensure their performance.

3.maintenance

Both foam-filled fenders and pneumatic fenders require little maintenance.Both types of fenders must undergo regular visual inspections. For pneumatic fenders, only air is added regularly (approximately 12 months).So in this regard, foam fenders have a slight advantage over pneumatics.

4.The price

This is where the rubber floating pneumatic fender has the most advantages over the foam fender.Under the same size, the cost of foam-filled fenders may be 3 times higher than that of pneumatic fenders.This is because the main component of the pneumatic fender is air, it does not require physical filling, and the amount of material is limited to the surface layer.However, the outer layer containing the air must be strong enough to effectively absorb energy and transfer it to the air in the event of a collision, while repulsing the excess energy as a reaction force.On the other hand, for foam fenders, it is the ultra-efficient closed-cell foam core that completely absorbs energy (repulses excess energy as a reaction force). Therefore, for fenders of similar size, the amount of material used is much greater than that of rubber.

5.Conclusion

When deciding whether to use the pneumatic type or the foam filling type to meet your floating fender needs, it is important to consider your purpose and budget.Usually smaller size fenders, such as fenders with a diameter of less than 2.0m, the cost of foam fenders is still within a controllable range, but it can still provide slightly better performance.However, the cost will be higher for a large fender with a large size. Most people will consider using pneumatic rubber fenders for large ship-to-ship berthing operations.