Saint-Gobain: Glass reinforcements ensure the traditional comfort of Japanese bathtime

It is therefore kept at the same temperature for a long time, using a gas heating system. Hence the need to use a glass reinforcement resistant to heat and time. Saint-Gobain Renforcement has made a successful entry into this composites market.

In order to come up with an adequate glass reinforcement (a roving for the Sheet Moulding Compound (SMC) process), Saint-Gobain Vetrotex had to use its imagination. An international project group was formed, made up of French, Italian, American, Japanese, Korean and Thai. They came not only from the Research and Development departments, but also from the factories, with the aim of going from laboratory test stage to marketing stage under the best possible conditions. This project produced the 5225 SMC roving. Created exclusively for the Japanese market, it gives two major properties to the baths it is used to reinforce: resistance to boiling water and an attractive surface quality (no porosity or glass yarn that shows at the surface of the moulded part). Produced in Thailand and well positioned in the Far East, it makes Saint-Gobain Renforcement the only non-Japanese glass reinforcement manufacturer to sell an SMC roving for bathroom applications.