Richard Hayward asked:


What is Composite and what can it be used for?

A composite is an engineered material which is a combination of two or more materials which when physically combined exhibit greatly improved properties over the individual materials, glass fibres provide the structural properties and the thermosetting resin provides the matrix to hold the fibres, additional components, such as pigments, fillers, and other additives can be added to modify or enhance the composites performance.

Composite materials offer unique advantages over more conventional materials, higher mechanical properties such as flexural strength, flex modulus, tensile strength, and compressive strength, higher impact resistance, and a greater resistance to change of shape and dimensional shift due to temperature and the passage of time, further more, composites offer low thermal conductivity and thermal expansion, also,

Composite materials has few constrains or design limitations, the typical properties of this modern day material allow it to be easily moulded or fabricated into products of any size, shape, or colour, yet these fantastic results can be achieved at a competitively low cost when compared with other more conventional materials, further more,

Composite moulded components can be light weight, strong, with low maintenance requirements, and can be manufactured to meet specific requirements like fire- retardantcy, chemical-resistant, or be resilient to environmental extremes, in short this outstanding modern day composite material offers great potential for designers, architects, and end-uses alike, pushing the design boundaries further, here are a few examples of composite moulded applications,

Construction, architectural facades, internal & external cladding, canopies and columns, domed structures, bespoke building features, and much more…..

Leisure, water slides, theme park rides, play equipment, swimming pool liners and much more……..

Marine, boat hulls and other components, ship parts, life raft enclosures, pontoons, and much more….

Automotive, body shells, spoilers, body kits, truck wind deflectors, trailer shells, and much more….

Aerospace, fuselages, cowling, aircraft components, micro-lights, and much more….

Bespoke, enclosures, buildings, furniture, housings, specialist applications and much …

So as you can see, composite materials are widely used within all industry sectors and can deliver great results, so when you look at your next project, consider composite materials as your material of choice…



GOODALL

Richard Hayward asked:


Composite mouldings are specifically designed products manufactured from a composite material, one such composite material is GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic), GRP Composite mouldings can be manufactured for use in many industry sectors, such as,

Water slides, theme park rides ect, for the Leisure industry,

Columns, domed, canopies, cladding panels, for the Construction industry,

Body panels, spoilers, lorry wind deflectors, ect for the Automotive industry,

Radomes, enclosures, nose cones, housings ect, for the Defence industry,

Boat hulls, super structures, radar arch’s, ect, for the Marine industry,

Guards, covers, enclosures, housings ect, for the Engineering industry,

Speaker enclosures, shower trays, ect, Bespoke applications,

Designers, architects, and end-users alike have found that Composite mouldings has few constraints or limitations when it comes to design and can be manufactured to any size, shape, or colour required at an economic cost when compared with other more conventional materials, these moulded components can display a superior moulded finish that can be made to replicate bronze, stone, wood, granite or any BS or RAL colour required, these great moulded finish’s can also be UV stabilised and can withstand environmental extremes when used for outdoor application, also, one of the great things that make GRP Composite the material of choice, is that it can be specifically tailored to meet the end users requirements, be it fire-retardantcy, chemical-resistance, corrosion resistant, or product that can be tailored to withstand specific loads and stresses, in short, GRP Composite mouldings are taking shape daily to meet the demands of a modern world.

Composite mouldings are manufactured with the aid of a mould, the mould is a reverse of the product, the mould can be male or female depending upon the design of the product, the mould is normally made from fibreglass, but can also be made from timber, latex, or metal, the mould will require several coats of a mould release agent, remember before you run the mould an additional coat of PVA (Poly Vinyl Alcohol) release agent is also good practice, this will help the first product to release from the mould with out the risk of sticking.

Now the mould is prepared and ready to go to work, its time to manufacture a composite moulding,

1. This process starts with the mould being painted or sprayed with gel-coat of the desired colour; the polyester gel-coat is the coating that will provide the pre-coloured finish to the moulded component, the gel-coat is allowed to cure, but will remain tacky, this is good, the tacky finish will enable a good bond for the laminate,

2. Once the gel-coat has cured, a layer of glass fibre is then applied to the back of the gel-coat, the layer of glass-fibre is then saturated with resin, the saturated glass-fibre is then rolled with a special roller, this is to remove any trapped air, and to consolidate the glass-fibres, more layers of glass-fibre can be applied and consolidated until the required thickness is achieved, the laminate is then left to harden and cure.

3. Once the laminate has cured, the product can be released from the mould, the product is normally left in the mould for twenty four hours, this ensures that the product has no imperfections, like, print through from the glass-fibre, shrinkage in the gel-coat ect, but remember, if there are any defects like the one’s just mentioned, these can all be rectified by a skilled operative.

Congratulations you now have a small insight into one of the process’s which enables the manufacture of Composite mouldings, as discussed at the beginning of this article, Composite mouldings are manufactured for a wide variety of end user applications, so whether you are a designer, architect, or end-user, and you are looking at your next project, the answer is simple, Composite mouldings, this truly innovative products can be designed and manufactured to meet any requirement at a comparatively economic cost.



HALBROOK

Richard Hayward asked:


Composite Moulding is a process which enables the manufacture of a specifically designed product from a composite material, one such Composite material is Glass Reinforced Plastic, also known as Fibreglass; Composite moulded products can be manufactured for use in most industry sectors, such as,

Construction,

Leisure,

Marine,

Aerospace,

Automotive,

Defence,

And many more.

Composite moulded products can be manufactured to meet most requirements and specifications, further-more, these components can be produced to any size, shape or colour required, in some cases peripheral components can be incorporated into the moulding process, such as threaded inserts ect, these can be bonded into the product to provide a fixing solution, or metal work can be incorporated into the moulding to provide a mount for internal components such as electronics ect, During this innovative process, additional reinforcements can be incorporated into specific areas which will be under load or receive additional stresses; this is done during the laminating process, when additional layers of reinforcement can be applied into the required areas, or structural sub-mouldings can be bonded in, in short, composite moulded components can be tailored to meet any requirement, but lets talk about the process that makes it all possible, Composite Moulding.

Composite Moulding is a process that starts off with the manufacture of a pattern also known as a plug or buck, this is a model made from Polyurethane foam, or MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) or another material, this model will replicate the required product exactly, with regards to the dimensions and surface finish, once the pattern has be manufactured and prepared with the relevant release agents the mould can be manufactured from it, the mould can be male or female depending upon the design of the product.

The manufacture of the mould requires a certain amount of skill and understanding, its this experience that will enable the correct tooling materials to be chosen and employed during the mould construction, the mould may need to be more than one piece depending upon the design of the product (flash lines, undercuts, intricacy, ect are things to give thought to) if the mould is to be more than one piece, then locators will be required on the flanges to ensure the mould section align.

Now the mould has been manufactured and allowed to cure, the pattern can be removed from the mould, the use of compressed air or wedges may be required to break the seal between these parts, once the pattern has been released, the mould can be prepared with several coats of mould release wax, remember before you run the mould a coat of PVA (Poly Vinyl Alcohol) release agent is also good practice and will help the first product to release from the mould with out the risk of sticking.

Now the mould is prepared and ready to go to work, its time to go Composite Moulding,

1. This starts with the mould being painted or sprayed with gel-coat of the desired colour; the polyester gel-coat is the coating that will provide the pre-coloured finish to the moulded component, the gel-coat is allowed to cure, but will remain tacky, this is good, the tacky finish will enable a good bond for the laminate,

2. Once the gel-coat has cured, a layer of glass fibre is then applied to the back of the gel-coat, the layer of glass-fibre is then saturated with resin, the saturated glass-fibre is then rolled with a special roller, this is to remove any trapped air, and to consolidate the glass-fibres, more layers of glass-fibre can be applied and consolidated until the required thickness is achieved, the laminate is then left to harden and cure.

3. Once the laminate has cured, the product can be released from the mould, the product is normally left in the mould for twenty four hours, this ensures that the product has no imperfections, like, print through from the glass-fibre, shrinkage in the gel-coat ect, but remember, if there are any defects like the one’s just mentioned, these can all be rectified by a skilled operative.

Congratulations, you now have a small insight into Composite Moulding, a truly innovative process for manufacturing Composite components, and remember you probably see products every day made using this process, but you didn’t realise it, that was until now!



LUNDAY