RVs have a history of nearly a hundred years in Europe and the United States, and the basic materials of RVs have also developed for nearly a hundred years. Therefore, the materials required for RV production have hardly changed in a short period of time. Not long ago, I heard that a RV company in Changzhou used a self-developed new material for its product shell, which aroused the author’s curiosity.
Because camp RVs do not have high requirements for mobile attributes, they are usually judged by their “appearance”. The RV produced by Tiansheng Company does not stand out too much in this competition of winning appearance, but this RV wins in the other direction. The car body material of this RV is made of Tiansheng new material PVC sandwich panel independently developed and produced by Tiansheng. How is this board different from the conventional sandwich boards used in most RVs?
new material
PVC sandwich panels have the same construction as sandwich panels commonly found in RVs, but with a core of PVC structural foam. PVC structural foam is a polymer composite that provides structural support as an alternative to metal. It is mainly used in the inner skeleton of wind power blades with a length of 20 to 80 meters, the hull of a yacht as a skeleton, the front of a high-speed rail subway and the sandwich layer of a bottom plate. Compared with the traditional sandwich board core material, PVC structural foam has the following characteristics.
1. Strength. Tiansheng New Material PVC structural foam is widely used in wind power, yachts, and high-speed rail. The single square compression resistance of Tiansheng RV PVC structural foam wall panels can reach 1.08Mpa (that is, each square can bear 80 tons), and the strength reaches the national standard recommended by GB/T 1453 2005 , the bending strength of the panel reaches the national military standard GJB 130.91986, and the falling ball impact reaches the national standard GB/T14485 1993. The PVC structural foam can be slotted and injected with glue to form a network structure and a force unloading groove. It performs well in terms of body strength, compression resistance and service life. . 2. Excellent warranty. New skeleton-free material PVC structural foam sandwich shell, the thermal conductivity of PVC structural foam is only 0.027 W/(m·k), which is 1/2200 of iron and 1/8600 of aluminum. 3. Environmental resistance. Tiansheng new material PVC structural foam is widely used in composite yacht hulls and land & offshore wind power blades. Its corrosion resistance and anti-aging effects are very strong. The camp RV will be in the outdoor seaside, lakeside, wetland, mountains, 365 days a year for a long time. In the forest, the environmental resistance of the RV shell of Tiansheng New Materials will eliminate the risk of corrosion of the RV. 4. Good sound insulation. Tiansheng new material caravan wall panels meet the national railway standard recommendation GB/T 18696.2 2002. 5. High fire coefficient. Tiansheng new material RV wall panel has passed the third-party European TUV certification, and has reached the national standard for automotive interior fire protection (GB 8410 2006). 6. High environmental standards. Tiansheng new material RV passed the national standard recommendation certification (GB/T 18883 2002) issued by the third-party CMA qualification testing agency.
old market
Although Tiansheng New Materials has many advantages, its disadvantages are also obvious, that is, the high price and few practical application cases of RVs. Compared with traditional RV materials, the price is much higher. In addition, since Tiansheng itself mainly produces camp RVs, there are fewer cases of RVs using this material in motion. This may be the reason why the response rate of new RV products in the “old market” is not high.
The development of RVs is inseparable from the upgrading of basic materials. However, the attention of domestic RV companies is on the downstream terminal products of the RV industry, and the attention paid to materials is obviously not enough. As a result, although the final products of RVs are diversified, they are still in the market. In essence, the convergence is serious.
RVs have entered the domestic market as imported products for more than 20 years. During this period, RVs have gradually been accepted by more people, and at the same time, localization changes have been quietly carried out. Large water tanks, large-capacity batteries, outdoor kitchens, and multiple beds are all representative of localization features. Compared with changes in design and appearance, the “localization” of RV base materials is very slow. To change this situation is not enough for one company, it needs the joint efforts of the whole industry. The new materials of Tiansheng cannot be left alone in the market. Only when a hundred schools of thought contend is formed is the real beginning of the localization of RVs.
