13. Composite Materials

Make it light and strong

This week's class discussed using resin cast fiber material to produce lightweight, sturdy parts.

Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate workflows used in mould design and construction
• Select and apply suitable materials and processes to create a composite part.

Assignment

Testing the process

I started with making some test pieces, to get a feel for the process and try some different configurations.

The tests were 3 and 4 layers, with the fibers criss-crossed or aligned. This will help get a sense of which configuration works best.

The results were as expected: criss-cross arrangment with 4 layers is the strongest, and not much heavier. Also, the parts need a lot more resin than expected. I'll adjust appropriately for the molded part.