Week no.14

  • Composites

Assigments :
  • Read the material safety data sheet (MSDS) and technical data sheet (TDS) for the resins that you're using
  • Design and fabricate a 3D mold
  • Produce a fiber composite part in it

Material Safety

The resin used for composites assignment is a Vegetal Base polyurethane from a local industry. The technical data sheet for the material can be found Here.

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As for the MSDS, I couldn´t find any information form the local manufacturer. It seems that here in Brazil there are other safety standards, the usual is to look for FISPQ - "Ficha de informações de segurança de produtos químicos".

But since it is a natural resin, there are no risks of toxicity. It´s a safe material as descrybed in the technical data sheet.

Fiber composite part

Since I spent a LOT of time in my last mould project, the idea was to keep it simple and try something different. And so, I used a vegetal base resin to make a composite part with some fabric, but the idea was to test the composite along with other processes - Laser cut and press-fit mount. The other problem was the resin cure time - took me 4 days until the surface dryes to toutch.

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It was a interesting test since I never worked whith a natural resin, the resulting part is flexible and resembles rubber. A nice look and feel for the part.

The composite sheet piece was created with 4 layers of fabric and resin. One dificulty was that I have to estimate the final thickness since it would be futher laser cutted and press-fit mounted.

The result was a enjoyable toy, a 3D dinosaur skeleton puzze. Stiff enough to fit/assemble and flexible enough for my child not to break or get hurt. Nice done !