Composites
The assignment this week was to create something using a composite layup. The product had to be designed on the computer, and had to use some sort of digital fabrication method to make the form around which the fabric/resin would be formed.
The assignment was relatively open ended, and we were given the freedom to choose what we wanted to make, as well as what materials we wanted to use. I have a large amount of bicycle race numbers, which are made from a material called tyvek. It is a strong material made from polyethylene. I decided that a cool way to recycle this material was to use it as the fabric component for my composite.
The first attempt we did was to test our vaccum bagging system, and to see how the composite worked. I made a small box out of carboard, and covered it in tape. I put mold release on the tape to be able to get the composite off of the mold. Then I applied epoxy to both the box and the tyvek, and let the epoxy set into the tyvek a little. I then laid 3 layers of the strips of tyvek over the box. and put more epoxy over the top of it. Next, I put the box into our vaccum bag, with some release film over it, and then breather cloth over that. These two layers allow the vacuum to compress the design, and allow the exess epoxy to flow out of the product, and get soaked up in the breather cloth.
After sealing up the vacuum bag, we turned on the vaccum pump, found and sealed the leaks, then waited a few hours. I unwrapped the materials around the piece, and was pleasently surprised with the result. It is pretty strong, and I think it looks pretty cool:
With a proof of concept complete for vaccum bagging and the tyvek material, I moved on to making something froma digitally fabricated form. I decided to make a picture frame, and a light switch plate. I cut the designs on the laser cutter out of cardboard, then covered them in epoxy and race numbers. I put the switchplate in a vaccum bag and let that sit for a few hours, and am very impresed with the result:
I let the picture frame air dry, and heate it with a heat gun to speed the reaction, and it also turned out well!
