Rubber Fender System for Port Construction and Protection

Rubber Fender System for Port Construction and Protection

Rubber fender are the most widely used high-pressure inflatable rubber covers in ports, docks and ship berthing operations. Their core function is to absorb and buffer energy through the internal compressed air. With features such as stable structure, high energy absorption efficiency and strong adaptability, they have become the mainstream protective equipment for medium and large-sized docks, container berths, bulk cargo docks and ocean-going ships. They are also the core anti-collision facilities for ship-to-shore docking and ship-to-ship berthing.

Product Description:

Material Advantages:

Core Material Composition

Base Rubber: Primarily natural rubber (NR), combined with synthetic rubbers such as styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and chloroprene rubber (CR). Natural rubber ensures high elasticity, while synthetic rubber enhances aging resistance and corrosion resistance.

Functional Additives: Carbon black (enhances tensile strength and abrasion resistance), vulcanizing agents (promotes rubber cross-linking and curing), plasticizers (improves flexibility), antioxidants (resist UV and ozone aging), and flame retardants (for special scenarios such as oil and gas terminals) are added in proportion.

Optional Frame Material: Some large fenders include a metal frame (Q235 steel, etc.), with a surface treated for rust removal, phosphating, and adhesive coating to enhance adhesion to the rubber and improve overall structural stability.

Structural Characteristics: The rubber has a honeycomb-like closed-cell structure with uniform pore size, ensuring energy absorption space while preventing seawater infiltration and internal aging.

Key Material Performance Parameters

Hardness: Shore A 55-65, balancing elasticity and support.

Tensile strength: ≥15MPa, elongation at break ≥450%, strong tear resistance and deformation resistance.

Environmental resistance: Resistant to seawater, salt spray, grease, acid and alkali corrosion; can operate stably in environments from -40℃ to 80℃; resistant to UV aging.

Manufacturing Process:

Raw Material Preparation and Formulation: Natural rubber and synthetic rubber (such as styrene-butadiene rubber) are selected as the base. Carbon black, vulcanizing agents, plasticizers, and other additives are added in proportion. The mixture is then homogenized at high temperature using a Banbury mixer to produce a uniform rubber compound.

Skeleton Pretreatment (if required): If the fender contains a metal skeleton (such as mounting plates or reinforcing ribs), the metal parts are first derusted and phosphated to improve adhesion to the rubber and prevent later detachment.

Mold Forming: The mixed rubber compound is filled into a customized honeycomb structure mold, and the skeleton (if present) is placed inside. Pressure is applied to fix the mold, ensuring the rubber compound fills all gaps and forms a honeycomb internal structure.

High-Temperature Vulcanization: The mold is placed in a vulcanizing tank and maintained at 150-180℃ under certain pressure for several hours to allow the rubber molecules to cross-link and solidify, simultaneously enhancing the material's elasticity and strength.

Demolding and Finishing: After vulcanization, the mold is cooled and demolded. Burrs and flash on the fender surface are removed. Mounting holes and connection points are drilled and ground to ensure installation accuracy.

Quality inspection: Products that fail to meet quality standards are reworked, while qualified products are packaged and shipped through dimensional measurement, hardness testing, impact resistance testing, and leakage testing (to verify the airtightness of the honeycomb structure).

Features:

High energy absorption efficiency, moderate reaction force: By relying on the elastic deformation of the internal compressed air, it can efficiently absorb the huge kinetic energy of ships when they berth, and the reaction force on the ship body and the dock is much lower than that of rigid anti-collision facilities. At the same time, it protects the ship's steel plates and the dock structure from damage;
Stable structure, strong adaptability: The bulging main body is evenly stressed and can be customized according to the tonnage of the dock and the size of the ship (diameter 300mm - 5000mm, length 500mm - 12000mm), suitable for all scenarios from small yacht docks to large container deep-water ports and LNG docks;
Excellent weather resistance, long service life: The rubber material is resistant to seawater, acids and alkalis, anti-aging, and anti-low temperature. It can be used normally in extreme environments of -40℃ to +60℃. Under normal conditions, the service life can reach 8-10 years, and the maintenance cost is low;
Easy installation, flexible use: It can be installed in various ways such as dock fixation, ship body suspension, and floatation combination. After inflation, it can be put into use directly. Daily maintenance only requires regular inspection of air pressure and replenishment of air. The operation is simple;
Large buffering range, excellent anti-collision effect: The elastic deformation can reach more than 30% of its own size. When in contact with the ship body, there is no hard collision, effectively avoiding problems such as ship body scratches and damage to the dock concrete.

Technical Parameters:

Applications:

Main Application Scenarios

General Port Terminals: Container terminals, bulk cargo terminals, oil and gas chemical terminals, etc., suitable for berthing of various types of vessels such as cargo ships, tankers, and container ships.

Small and Medium-Sized Berths: Yacht marinas, fishing boat marinas, inland river ports, ferry terminals, meeting the protection needs of small vessels berthing at low speeds without occupying excessive space.

Special Environment Terminals: Offshore platforms, anti-collision piers for cross-sea bridges, port breakwaters, lock entrances, etc., capable of withstanding high salt spray, strong winds and waves, or complex stress scenarios at sea.

Temporary/Mobile Protection: Temporary berths during port expansion and renovation, temporary berthing points for offshore construction vessels, easy to install and dismantle, and flexibly deployable.

High-Requirement Protection Scenarios: Luxury cruise terminal, berths for vessels transporting precision equipment, leveraging low rebound force to reduce impact damage to the hull paint and precision equipment.

Support and Services:

After-sales consultation: We provide 24/7 customer service to answer customer questions , such as specification selection, usage methods, and maintenance points.

Regular follow-up visits: The manufacturer may conduct regular follow-up visits to customers to understand the usage and collect customer feedback in order to continuously improve product quality and service levels.

with its excellent quality and attentive service, builds a solid guarantee for your maritime career. Choosing us means choosing safety, efficiency, and worry - free operation. Embark on a new journey of navigation, starting from choosing our anchor chain!

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