PolymerPark supports the transformation within public transportation with optimized flooring systems to achieve the goals of climate neutrality and CO2 reduction.
Our VarioLineComposite bus floors offer special advantages for modern zero-emission bus fleets powered by batteries or hydrogen. By this PolymerPark is contributing to a sustainable transport future.
Technical information
VarioLineComposites are impact-resistant and offer additional safety in crash behaviour thanks to their outstanding energy absorption. They meet the safety requirements of ECE R118 and, in combination with suitable floor covers, even the more stringent requirements of metro regions like London or in a rail environment.
Emission-free drive systems increase vehicle weight which causes constraints on range or passenger capacity. Weight reduction therefore is one prime objective of VarioLineComposite bus floors that offer an amount of 100 to 150 kg weight savings in a typical single-articulated bus when compared to wood-based materials.
With our VarioLineComposite bus floors, we help manufacturers and operators reduce their carbon footprint. The floors are made from at least 60% post-consumer plastic waste and are 100% recyclable at the end of their life. Compared to traditional wood-based materials the floor's carbon footprint is reduced by approximately 50% in comparison to plywood and more than 70% when compared to aluminium.
We have been successfully supplying floor systems for zero-emission vehicles and conventional buses for over five years. We are a development partner of HESS in Switzerland and other innovative OEMs in England, Spain, Poland, Hungary and Germany.
Through our global cooperation with the GERFLOR group as leading flooring supplier, together we offer our customers a perfect combination of flooring, design, and structure from a single partner.
further information about GERFLOR
VarioLineComposite floors are exceptionally durable and reliable. Where previously individual plywood elements had to be replaced after 3-4 years due to rot - the composite do not absorb water or swell, and therefore do not require early replacement or repair witin the operational bus cycle. This reduces service demands and total cost of operation.
By eliminating the need for additional sealants and complex pre-treatments or underbody preparations, the number of production steps can be significantly reduced. Furthermore, the use of large panels or sections reduces the number of joints to be treated and enables a shortening of production steps. This saves time and resources and increases manufacturing efficiency.
Reducing weight not only means the potential for higher passenger capacity - it also means longer range or less charging.
This is further enhanced by the better thermal insulation of VarioLineComposites which means more energy can go into the driving cycle. Extending the operating performance reduces operating costs.
A bus floor must be able to reliably withstand static and dynamic bending and compressive loads. At the same time, it should be as lightweight as possible. This is achieved by an integral foam core with a density of less than 500 kg/m³ combined with a continuous fiber-reinforced structural layer.
Special polar films serve as functional surfaces, supporting the seamless bonding of our floor to the bus chassis below and the floor cover on top.
VarioLineComposite bus floors reduce weight by more than 35% compared to plywood yet weigh barely more than conventional duromer floor panels (e.g., polyurethane). This leads to a lower energy consumption
At the same time, weather-related water absorption during the driving cycle is virtually non-existent compared with wood-based materials and duromer sandwich panels. This improves the service life dramatically.
PolymerPark offers bus floors in various designs.
There are the two options: "weight-optimized" (=light) and "high-strength" (=structural) that can be freely combined when placing the individual floor sections.
In high-load areas the use of the high-strength version eliminates the need for chassis enhancements.
In lower-load areas the weight-optimized version focuses on maximizing weight reduction.
PolymerPark’s composites are designed, material selected, and composed in such a way that they can be recycled into new composite products. To achieve this, we take back production waste and the products themselves after their long service life, reprocess them, and reuse the recovered material.
The material cycle is closed, and our composites are truly CIRCULAR composites.
As a composite specialist with our own development and application department, we support bus manufacturers in the selection and optimization of composite floors. We can offer services for design calculations / material simulations and then recommend the best product options in terms of weight and load-bearing capacity to equip your buses.
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