Reinforced Composite Materials For Use In The Manufacture Moulds And The Use Of Such Moulds

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the preparation of composite moulds and methods of preparing the same, wherein the composite moulds may be prepared exclusive or inclusive of a plug. Certain composites comprise a substrate, a structural laminate, and a syntactic foam moulding product.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A moulded composite capable of producing 20 to 1000 parts, wherein the moulded composite comprises:
 i) a substrate;   ii) a fibre reinforced structural laminate comprising a first plurality of reinforcing fibres;   iii) a syntactic foam moulding product comprising a plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres; and   iv) optionally a tooling gel coat.   
     
     
         22 . The moulded composite of  claim 21 , wherein said syntactic foam moulding product provides:
 i) rigidity to the composite mould;   ii) a durable and machineable moulding surface to the composite mould; or   iii) rigidity and a durable and machineable moulding surface to the composite mould.   
     
     
         23 . The moulded composite of  claim 21 , wherein the substrate comprises:
 i) a structural substrate, comprising: a solid substrate; a wooden substrate; a plywood substrate; a particle board substrate; a MDF substrate; a composite material; a structural fibre board; a polymer concrete substrate; a concrete substrate; a fibreglass substrate; a polymer composite substrate; or a plastic composite substrate;   ii) a non-structural substrate, comprising: a foam substrate; a plastic foam, meshing, or fabric; a sealed polystyrene foam substrate; a polyurethane foam substrate; or a rigid plastic foam substrate;   iii) a machined substrate, a CNC machined substrate, a fabricated substrate, and/or a sealed substrate; and/or   iv) combinations thereof.   
     
     
         24 . The moulded composite of  claim 21 , wherein the substrate is sealed with a foam sealer product. 
     
     
         25 . The moulded composite of  claim 24 , wherein the foam sealer product comprises:
 i) a sprayable and/or rollable water based sealer formulated from polyvinyl alcohol;   ii) a sealer made from a low viscosity sprayable and/or rollable epoxy compound that when cured allows unsaturated polyester or vinyl ester resins to adhere to its surface; or   iii) a specially formulated vinyl functional resin that does not attack a polystyrene foam surface.   
     
     
         26 . The moulded composite of  claim 25 , wherein the polystyrene foam surface is CCP Styroguard. 
     
     
         27 . The moulded composite of  claim 21 , wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres comprise:
 i) mineral fibres, comprising wollastonite and/or Mica;   ii) glass fibres, comprising E-, S-, or C-class glass;   iii) aramid fibres;   iv) ceramic fibres;   v) cellulose fibres; and/or   vi) carbon fibres.   
     
     
         28 . The moulded composite of  claim 21 , wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres are coated with a coupling agent. 
     
     
         29 . The moulded composite of  claim 21 , wherein the first plurality of reinforcing fibres comprise an average length of between about 5 mm and 20 mm for the structural layer. 
     
     
         30 . The moulded composite of  claim 21 , wherein the moulded composite is manufactured according to a method, comprising:
 i) forming the substrate;   ii) applying the fibre reinforced structural laminate to the substrate, wherein said fibre reinforced structural laminate comprises:
 a) a first plurality of reinforcing fibres; and 
 b) a first curable resin mixture, comprising a first curable resin and a wetting agent, wherein the wetting agent is prepared by reacting a polyol with an organo-functional silane; 
   iii) applying the syntactic foam moulding product to the fibre reinforced structural laminate, wherein said syntactic foam moulding product comprises:
 a) a plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres; 
 b) a second curable resin mixture, comprising a second curable resin, and optionally thixatropes and plastic spheres/hemispheres; and 
 c) a coupling agent, wherein the coupling agent is prepared by reacting a polyol with an organo-functional silane; 
   iv) optionally applying the tooling gel coat to the surface of said syntactic foam moulding product for the manufacture of moulds that require a high gloss surface finish; and   v) curing said composite mould.   
     
     
         31 . The moulded composite of  claim 30 , wherein the method of manufacturing the moulded composite further comprises applying a foam sealer product to the substrate prior to applying the structural laminate, and wherein:
 i) the foam sealer product comprises:
 a) a plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres and/or Mica flakes; 
 b) a foam sealer; and 
 c) a coupling agent; and 
   ii) the method of producing the composite mould is inclusive or exclusive of making and/or using a plug or composite plug.   
     
     
         32 . The moulded composite of  claim 30 , wherein the first and/or second curable resin comprises a liquid curable resin. 
     
     
         33 . The moulded composite of  claim 30 , wherein the said first and/or second curable resin comprises an unsaturated polyester resin; a vinyl ester resin; or a blend of unsaturated polyester and vinyl ester resins. 
     
     
         34 . The moulded composite of  claim 30 , wherein the polyol reacted to prepare said wetting agent comprises trimetholylpropane or pentaerythritol. 
     
     
         35 . The moulded composite of  claim 30 , wherein the polyol reacted to prepare said coupling agent comprises trimetholylpropane or pentaerythritol. 
     
     
         36 . The moulded composite of  claim 30 , wherein said syntactic foam moulding product is sprayable and/or machineable. 
     
     
         37 . A syntactic foam moulding product, comprising:
 i) a plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres;   ii) a curable resin mixture, comprising a curable resin, and optionally, thixatropes, and plastic spheres/hemispheres; and   iii) a coupling agent.   
     
     
         38 . The syntactic foam moulding product of  claim 37 , wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres comprise microfibres having an average fibre diameter in the range of between 5-15 microns. 
     
     
         39 . The syntactic foam moulding product of  claim 37 , wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres comprise microfibres having a mean fibre length in the range of between 250-800 microns. 
     
     
         40 . The syntactic foam moulding product of  claim 37 , wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres have been treated, coated and/or modified with a coupling agent such that the properties of an interphase is substantially equivalent to those of the bulk cured resin, wherein the cured resin adjacent to said reinforcing microfibres defines an interphase.