Choosing the right sandwich panel comes down to matching three variables: the structural load the panel must carry, the environment it will operate in, and the weight budget your application allows. For commercial vehicle and scaffolding applications, those three factors almost always point toward thermoplastic composite panels with PP honeycomb or PET foam cores. The questions below unpack each decision point so you can specify with confidence.
This article covers the broader sandwich panel market. Compoform’s range is limited to PP honeycomb and PET foam cores for commercial vehicles and scaffolding.
What factors determine which sandwich panel is right for your application?
The right sandwich panel is determined by four factors: the structural loads the panel must carry, the weight constraints of your application, the environmental conditions it will face, and the surface finish required for function or compliance. Getting these four variables right before specifying a panel saves significant cost and rework later.
For truck body builders and trailer manufacturers, payload capacity is often the starting point. Every kilogram of structural dead weight in the body is a kilogram that cannot be converted into revenue-generating cargo. In scaffolding, the governing factor is load class under EN 12811; the panel must sustain defined distributed loads without deflection that compromises worker safety.
Beyond structural performance, consider:
- Operating environment: Exposure to moisture, cleaning chemicals, UV, or temperature cycling all affect material selection
- Surface requirements: Anti-skid finishes for floors, decorative finishes for interior walls, or bare structural surfaces for hidden applications
- Dimensional requirements: Whether standard sheet sizes fit your design or custom dimensions are needed to eliminate joints and reduce assembly steps
- End-of-life obligations: European OEMs increasingly face recyclability requirements under the EU ELV Directive; thermoplastic panels are recyclable; thermoset panels are not
What is the difference between thermoplastic and thermoset composite panels?
Thermoplastic composite panels use a polymer matrix, such as polypropylene, that can be remelted and reformed after manufacture. Thermoset panels use resins such as epoxy or polyester that cure permanently and cannot be reprocessed. The practical difference for most transport and scaffolding applications is weight, impact resistance, recyclability, and long-term durability.
Thermoset panels, including those made with fibre-reinforced polyester, have historically been common in bodywork because of their rigidity and low material cost. However, they are brittle under impact, difficult to repair, and cannot be recycled at end of life — a growing compliance issue for European manufacturers subject to CSRD sustainability reporting requirements.
Thermoplastic panels absorb impact energy rather than cracking, which matters on truck floors and scaffolding boards that take repeated point loads. They also weld rather than bond, which simplifies certain fabrication steps. From a procurement standpoint, thermoplastic panels align with the recyclability requirements that fleet operators and infrastructure clients increasingly pass down to their suppliers.
How does core material affect sandwich panel performance?
The core material in a sandwich panel controls stiffness, compressive strength, weight, and thermal performance. Two core types are relevant for commercial vehicle and scaffolding applications: PP honeycomb and PET foam. Each suits different load profiles and design priorities.
PP honeycomb cores
PP honeycomb delivers high compressive strength relative to its weight, making it the preferred core for floor panels that must carry concentrated point loads — forklift wheels, pallet feet, or heavy equipment. The honeycomb geometry distributes load efficiently across the panel face. Floor panels with PP honeycomb cores are heavier than foam-core wall panels of similar thickness, but they deliver substantially higher bending and compressive performance in return. This trade-off is acceptable for floors where structural capacity, not minimum weight, is the governing requirement.
PET foam cores
PET foam cores offer a better stiffness-to-weight ratio for applications where distributed loads dominate and point load resistance is less critical — wall cladding, roof panels, and lightweight structural panels. Oriented PET foam is available across a range of densities, which allows the core stiffness and strength to be tuned to the specific load demand without adding unnecessary weight. This flexibility makes foam cores useful for custom panel designs where the structural requirement sits between standard configurations.
Which sandwich panel skin material should you choose?
The skin material determines the panel’s tensile strength, surface finish, impact resistance, and compatibility with your fabrication process. For thermoplastic sandwich panels used in transport and scaffolding, glass-fibre-reinforced PP skins are the standard choice, with the layup architecture — cross-ply or multi-ply — selected based on the direction and type of load the panel will carry.
Cross-ply skins orient fibres at 0° and 90° in alternating layers, which equalises mechanical properties in both directions. This makes the panel suitable for installation in either orientation without a preferred load axis — useful for wall cladding where the installer’s orientation may vary. Multi-ply skins with unidirectional layers can be configured to maximise strength in a specific direction, which is relevant for scaffolding planks where the dominant load runs across the panel width.
Surface finish is a separate decision from fibre architecture. A white PET-film surface provides a decorative finish with controlled colour properties and strong UV resistance — relevant for interior wall panels and exterior cladding. A black anti-skid surface is standard for floor panels where slip resistance under load is a safety requirement. The finish is integral to the skin, not a coating applied afterward, which means it does not peel or delaminate under repeated cleaning or mechanical stress.
When should you use custom panel dimensions instead of standard sizes?
Custom panel dimensions reduce or eliminate joints in your finished structure. Fewer joints mean less sealing, less assembly labour, and fewer potential failure points — particularly relevant for truck floors and trailer walls where moisture ingress at panel joints is a common maintenance issue. If your design requires a panel longer or wider than standard sheet sizes allow, custom dimensions are the practical answer.
Standard sheet sizes suit high-volume, low-complexity applications where the design has been built around available dimensions. Custom dimensions make sense when:
- Your structure requires a single unjointed panel to meet load or sealing requirements
- Your assembly process benefits from panels pre-cut to exact size, reducing on-site fabrication
- Your design specifies a thickness, width, or length combination not available in standard stock
- You are replacing a legacy panel and need to match existing dimensions precisely
Panels are available in custom dimensions cut to your exact specification, up to 13,500 mm × 2,900 mm. At that scale, a single panel can span the full floor length of a standard trailer without a longitudinal joint — removing a production step and a long-term maintenance liability in one decision.
How do sandwich panels compare to steel and aluminum in transport applications?
Thermoplastic sandwich panels are significantly lighter than steel and meaningfully lighter than aluminium for equivalent structural performance in truck body and trailer applications. The weight saving translates directly into payload capacity — and in 2026, it also translates into battery range for electric trucks and vans, which makes it a procurement argument for fleet operators transitioning to EVs.
Steel floors and walls add structural dead weight that reduces the legal payload a vehicle can carry. Replacing steel with a composite sandwich panel recovers that weight as usable payload. For a fleet operator running at or near the legal gross vehicle weight, that recovery has a direct revenue value per trip.
For electric trucks and vans, the argument extends further. Lighter body structures extend battery range per charge. Every kilogram of structural dead weight reduces the distance the vehicle can travel before recharging — making weight reduction a range argument, not just a payload argument. EV fleet buyers in 2026 routinely raise battery range as a procurement criterion, and body weight is one of the variables they can control through specification.
On durability, thermoplastic composite panels outlast both plywood and many steel configurations in heavy transport conditions. In high-wear floor applications, a composite panel typically lasts 12 or more years compared to 3 to 5 years for plywood. Over a 15-year vehicle life, that eliminates two to three replacement cycles. Once you account for panel cost, installation labour, and vehicle downtime during each replacement, the composite floor is cheaper per year of service — even at a higher unit price than plywood or thin steel sheet.
Aluminium is lighter than steel but still heavier than a well-specified composite panel, and it does not offer the same impact absorption. Aluminium also requires a subframe in many floor applications. A 30 mm PP honeycomb sandwich panel floor is self-supporting — no aluminium subframe is required — which removes a production step and reduces the total cost of the floor assembly for truck body builders.
How Compoform Helps You Specify the Right Panel
We work with truck body builders, trailer manufacturers, and scaffolding companies across Europe to match panel configuration to application requirements — before production starts. That means reviewing your structural loads, dimensional constraints, surface requirements, and assembly process together, then recommending a panel specification that performs and fits your production line.
Specifically, we help you with:
- Core and skin selection: Matching PP honeycomb or PET foam cores with the right skin architecture for your load profile and surface requirements
- Custom dimensions: Producing panels to your exact length, width, and thickness — including single-piece floors that eliminate joints and reduce assembly steps
- Edge treatment: Edge sealing and edge bending to protect the core from moisture and UV — relevant for scaffolding boards and truck floors washed down regularly
- EN 12811 compliance for scaffolding: Our 10.5 mm panel achieves load class 4 with no support underneath — a verified result from our own testing, not a general claim
- EV fleet arguments: If your customers are transitioning to electric vehicles, we can help you quantify the range benefit of switching from steel or aluminium to composite panels
We do not ship panels to spec and move on. We stay involved through integration, flag issues before they reach production, and support you through any iteration your design requires. If you are specifying panels for a truck body floor, trailer wall, or scaffolding board application, speak with our engineering team about your project requirements.