Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08K—Use of inorganic or non-macromolecular organic substances as compounding ingredients
  • C08K7/00—Use of ingredients characterised by shape
  • C08K7/02—Fibres or whiskers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
  • B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
  • B32B27/00—Layered products comprising a layer of synthetic resin
  • B32B27/42—Layered products comprising a layer of synthetic resin comprising condensation resins of aldehydes, e.g. with phenols, ureas or melamines
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
  • B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
  • B32B5/00—Layered products characterised by the non- homogeneity or physical structure, i.e. comprising a fibrous, filamentary, particulate or foam layer; Layered products characterised by having a layer differing constitutionally or physically in different parts
  • B32B5/22—Layered products characterised by the non- homogeneity or physical structure, i.e. comprising a fibrous, filamentary, particulate or foam layer; Layered products characterised by having a layer differing constitutionally or physically in different parts characterised by the presence of two or more layers which are next to each other and are fibrous, filamentary, formed of particles or foamed
  • B32B5/24—Layered products characterised by the non- homogeneity or physical structure, i.e. comprising a fibrous, filamentary, particulate or foam layer; Layered products characterised by having a layer differing constitutionally or physically in different parts characterised by the presence of two or more layers which are next to each other and are fibrous, filamentary, formed of particles or foamed one layer being a fibrous or filamentary layer
  • B32B5/26—Layered products characterised by the non- homogeneity or physical structure, i.e. comprising a fibrous, filamentary, particulate or foam layer; Layered products characterised by having a layer differing constitutionally or physically in different parts characterised by the presence of two or more layers which are next to each other and are fibrous, filamentary, formed of particles or foamed one layer being a fibrous or filamentary layer another layer next to it also being fibrous or filamentary

Definitions

• the invention relates to a reinforced laminar product comprising chopped fibrous material and a thermosetting aminoplast resin mixture as matrix brought together between supporting sheets.
• the invention also relates to a sheet moulding compound (SMC) production process for manufacturing such product and to moulded parts prepared therefrom.
• aminoplast comprises the condensation products of amino compounds and an aldehyde.
• the amino compounds in aminoplasts are usually selected from the groups of urea and its derivatives, and of triazines and derivatives thereof, e.g. triamino-S-triazine (also known as melamine).
• the melamine-aldehyde (i.e. melamine-formaldehyde) condensation product is hereinafter also referred to as MF.
• MF melamine-aldehyde
• combinations of urea and melamine aldehyde condensation products can be used. These can be referred to as MUF.
• the known product separated by polyethylene sheets (or in other words: films or carrier foils, etc.), is cut into sheets and then allowed to thicken for 24 to 96 hours in order to become processable and slightly sticky so that it can be used as surfacing for any type of substrate or so that a number of sheets can be pressed together and cured into a dense board. Since the SMC's in the known process will lead to relatively brittle cured products, the dense board will not have suitable impact strength unless the boards would be produced in thicknesses of at least about 1 cm. Without the abovementioned thickening handling of the products is impossible. For instance, removing the polyethylene sheets will be difficult.
• the SMC's cannot be handled by closed mould techniques because the high water content (especially the free moisture content) leads to foaming and/or blistering.
• the final products obtained would yield boards, which show porosity to a greater or lesser extent.
• the water content of the sheets partly serves as foaming agent.
• the first object of the present invention is to overcome the still existing need for providing a reinforced laminar product which does not exhibit the abovementioned problems of providing compounds which are too wet to be suitable for being used in closed mould techniques and which - due to the presence of short fibres - cannot yield moulded structural parts of sufficient strength at a thickness of less than about 1 cm.
• Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved and cost-efficient process for producing a laminar product comprising a thermosetting aminoplast resin mixture and fibrous material, which does not have the abovementioned disadvantages.
• the reinforced laminar product comprises a removable first carrier sheet and a removable second carrier sheet, between which two sheets a compound is contained, consisting of (a) 95 to 50 wt.% of an aminoplast resin mixture, 20 to 90 wt.% of the resin mixture consisting of filler and/or other additive materials and (b) 5 to 50 wt.% of fibrous material,
• thermosetting aminoplast resin in the laminar product according to the invention can, in principle, be any aminoplast resin (as is obtained by condensation of an amino compound and an aldehyde), particularly any aminoplastic (form)aldehyde resin.
• thermosetting resin examples include those, which contain urea or melamine as amino compound; also MUF combinations may be used.
• a melamine-aldehyde is used, because of its superior mechanical, surface and flame-resistant properties.
• the capability of pigmentation is also improved further.
• the advantages of the products according to the invention are manifested, in particular, if the thermosetting resin is an MF resin.
• the aminoplast resin can be manufactured in a manner known to the person skilled in the art by reacting an amino compound and formaldehyde in water.
• the ratio of, for example, formaldehyde and melamine is, normally speaking, between 1.0 and 2.5, preferably between 1.1 and 2.0.
• plasticizers such as, for example, sorbitol, D-caprolactam, ethylene glycol, trioxitol, toluenesulphonamide and the family of guanamines (benzo-, aceto- and diguanamines).
• the loss on cure of the (reinforced) laminar product is less than 10 wt.% of the total weight of the laminar product before any of the first and second carrier sheets have been removed.
• the loss on cure (value) as used in this application is determined by percentage of weight loss (e.g. free moisture, water and/or other volatiles), when the laminar product is dried in a ventilation oven at 80°C for 16 hours. Determination of the loss on cure values may be done with or without carrier foils.
• the laminar product has been dried between sheets, direct processing in closed moulds is possible afterwards, upon removal of the carrier sheets, without problems of foaming, blistering and porosities in the final product.
• the laminar product according to the invention may contain all kinds of fillers. Said fillers are the same as the conventional fillers for laminar products based on, for example, unsaturated polyester resin. For example, lime, calcium carbonate, clay, carbon particles, silica, aluminium trihydrate, quartz and/or metal particles are used as fillers.
• the laminar product according to the invention contains, in addition to melamine-formaldehyde resin, also aluminium trihydrate and calcium carbonate as filler.
• the laminar product may also contain catalysts, mould release agents, pigments and other conventional additives.
• the fibrous material may be inorganic fibres (natural and/or synthetic), e.g. mineral fibres, but also organic fibres (natural and/or synthetic) may be used as part of the fibrous material.
• Suitable fibres are, for example, carbon fibres, glass fibres, rock fibres, cotton-wool fibres, fibres based on highly oriented thermoplastics, such as aramids and UHMWPE (ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene) fibres, polyamide fibres and cellulose fibres. Particularly suitable fibres are glass fibres.
• At least 60 wt.% of the fibrous material consists of chopped fibres having an average length in the range of from 10 to 100 mm.
• the chopped fibres are substantially 2D-randomly distributed between two layers of the resin mixture.
• substantially 2D- randomly distributed means that the chopped fibres are more or less evenly, in random orientations, distributed in a plane which can be considered to be about parallel to the planes of the first and second removable carrier sheets (or the upper and lower planes of the laminar product after removal of those sheets).
• this can be easily achieved by distributing the chopped fibres directly from a chopping unit onto a first layer of resin mixture supported on the first carrier sheet and applying on top thereof a second layer of resin mixture supported by the second carrier sheet, thereby making a sandwich which may be homogenized by passing the laminar product through a series of rollers so that the fibrous material is thoroughly impregnated, as in standard SMC processes.
• the aminoplast resin mixture in the laminar product according to the invention is preferably a melamine-aldehyde resin mixture.
• the laminar product according to the invention has a loss on cure in the range of from 0.3 to 10 wt.% of the total weight of the laminar product, more preferably in the range of from 0.5 to 6 wt.% and most preferably in the range of from 1.0 to 3.0 wt.%.
• the moulded end products obtained have a completely homogeneous appearance and are porosity- free. These effects are even more pronounced when the laminar products also contain pigments and/or other colouring materials. If the laminar products have a loss on cure value of less than 0.3 wt.%, flow moulding is no longer feasible.
• the chopped fibrous material in the laminar product according to the invention preferably consists of chopped glass fibres having an average length in the range of from 12 to 60 mm.
• glass fibres are being produced and commercially available in the form of (assembled) ravings of about 1200 to 4800 texln total, the ravings being composed out of a number of strands, having tex numbers in the range of some hundreds, or so-called split strands, having tex numbers of 100 or lower.
• the tex number is a measure for the weight per unit length (g/km) of the fibrous material.
• the chopped glass fibres are composed out of strands or split strands having tex numbers in the range of from 18 to 300 tex, preferably out of split strands of from 35 to 100 tex.
• glass fibre ravings are used such as those, which conventionally can be used in so-called PP GMT (polypropylene glass mat reinforced thermoplastics) needling processes and which contain sizings suitable for use in (partially) maleic acid anhydride grafted polypropylene.
• PP GMT polypropylene glass mat reinforced thermoplastics
• sizings suitable for use in (partially) maleic acid anhydride grafted polypropylene.
• sizings are aminopropyl silane sizings.
• suitable glass fibres are, for example, ravings having strand or split-strand tex numbers in the range of from 18 to 300 tex, for instance PPG 4854, PPG 6428, OCF 357 D AA, OCF 954/B, Vetrotex P215 and Vetrotex P243 ravings of in total about 2400 tex.
• Very suitable glass ravings are the PPG 4854 2400 tex roving with a strand tex equal to 68, and Vetrotex P243.
• the laminar product according to the invention preferably at least 85 wt.% of the fibrous material consists of chopped fibres which are substantially 2D-randomly distributed between two layers of the resin mixture.
• Such continuous fibres may provide to the product additionally improved mechanical properties in specific directions.
• the invention provides, as a result of using long chopped glass fibres (10-100mm) and of using a drying step after the impregnation of the fibres, a laminar product, which is directly suitable for compression moulding in closed moulds making structural parts with small thickness (about 2 - 5 mm).
• the lowering of the loss on cure value can be achieved by drying the reinforced laminar product without removing of any of the carrier sheets.
• the drying may be performed most conveniently if a proper choice of carrier sheets is made.
• the removable first and/or second carrier sheets in the laminar products according to the invention therefore preferably have a permeability for water vapour at 23°C of 10 g/m 2 « day or more, preferably 25 g/m 2, day or more as determined according to DIN 53122.
• This permeability for water vapour is especially important during the production process for the laminar products.
• the skilled man will be readily able to find which carrier sheets are suitable for being applied according to the invention.
• Many types of suitable carrier sheets are commercially available and their properties, e.g. as to permeability for water vapour can be readily determined or are available from the pertaining product information or supplier's information.
• the fibrous material in the laminar product according to the invention consists of glass fibres and contains less than 1 wt.% of sizing and binder material as determined by the loss-on-ignition test. In such case laminar products with best homogeneity and outer appearance are being obtained.
• the glass fibres contain more than 1 wt.% of sizing and binder material as determined by the loss-on-ignition test, then more fibrous material remains visible at the surface.
• the two carrier sheets (films) of the laminar products will prevent contamination of the laminar product during production, handling and transport. This will enable the laminar products to be applied in such market segments where the outer appearance of the final products is critical.
• the laminar products having a loss on cure of less than 10 wt.% can be used in closed mould techniques. They also can be used for the produc- tion of homogeneous, relatively thick materials, whereas the laminar products according to the state of the art are only suitable for production of relatively thin materials or - in case of production of thicker materials - are only being used as a top-layer attached to a backing.
• the aminoplast resin mixture comprises a melamine-aldehyde resin and a fire retardant additive, the amount of melamine-aldehyde resin being from 15 to 25 wt.%, more preferably from 16 to 20 wt.%, of the total weight of the laminar product.
• Suitable materials (fillers) which can be used as fire retardant additives are, for instance, aluminium trihydrate (which advantageously also acts as a smoke suppressant), calcium or magnesium carbonate, magnesium hydroxide, barium sulphate, kaolin, talcum, silicon dioxide, metal oxides, e.g. Fe 2 0 3 or Ti0 , wollastonite, glass spheres, mica, quartz, or mixtures of these.
• Aluminium trihydrate and calcium carbonate are most preferred, and preferably amount to at least 75 wt.% of the fire retardant additive.
• fire retardant additives are being used which have relatively high density.
• the A2-classification (as proposed) requires that the material
• (a) is classified as "(A/B) S1" according to the Single Burning Item (SBI) test, and
• (b) has a caloric value of less than 3000 kJ/kg according to the standard of ISO-1716 (1973).
• the invention also relates to a novel (SMC-)process for manufacturing reinforced laminar products comprising fibrous material and a thermosetting aminoplast resin mixture as matrix.
• SMC- novel
• 5 to 50 wt.% of a fibrous material of which at least 60 wt.% of the fibrous material consists of chopped fibres having an average length in the range of from 10 to 100 mm is being substantially 2D-randomly distributed and impregnated between and in two layers of 95 to 50 wt.% of an aminoplast resin mixture of which resin mixture 20 to 90 wt.% consists of filler and/or other additive materials,
• the aminoplast resin can also be prepared from solid aminoplast materials, for instance from spray-dried resin, by adding - at an elevated temperature, e.g. preferably in the range of 50 - 60°C - an adequate amount of water (usually up to about 25 to 75 wt.% of water as compared to the solid material) in order to obtain a resin of suitable viscosity.
• an elevated temperature e.g. preferably in the range of 50 - 60°C - an adequate amount of water (usually up to about 25 to 75 wt.% of water as compared to the solid material) in order to obtain a resin of suitable viscosity.
• BYK 154 may be supplied to adjust the resin mixture viscosity It is important to note that the viscosity of the resin mixture used in this process should be between 5 and 250 Pa « s, preferably even between 20 and 100 Pa*s. This viscosity is considerably higher than the viscosity of that of resin mixtures used in the impregnation of non-woven mats in techniques of the prior art, for instance as described in EP-A-0845346.
• pigment and filler particles are being dispersed better in the resin mixture. This leads to less sedimentation of pigments and fillers in the laminar products.
• aminoplast resin mixture used in the process according to the invention is a melamine-aldehyde resin mixture.
• the sheet moulding compound is preferably dried to a loss on cure value in the range of from 0.3 to 10 wt.% of the total weight of the laminar product, more preferably in the range of from 0.5 to 6 wt.% and most preferably in the range of from 1.0 to 3.0 wt.%.
• the laminar product, before being dried is pre- cut according to desired dimensions, for instance, equal to the inlay pattern for the mould used.
• the pre-cutting before drying prevents the occurrence of bare glass fibres at the cutting edges.
• the drying can easily be achieved, for instance, in an oven through which the sheet moulding compound is transported, without removing the carrier sheets. Also drying off-line, at relatively low temperature, for instance at ambient temperature or even up to about 100°C, in drying chambers is possible. The latter embodiments of drying may be performed while storing the SMC's until the loss on cure value has reached a desired value. Because the drying process is rather quick, especially when spacers are being used between the separate SMC's, for instance, by separating the SMC's by individual layers of corrugated cardboard or otherwise, the low loss on cure values are being reached already within a few days at 60°C. Drying in an oven, of course, is quicker. The drying may also be assisted by vacuum.
• Part of the drying also can be achieved by the presence, in the aminoplast resin mixture matrix, of desiccants or of products like gypsum and/or cement.
• Such additives have a function different from that of conventional thickening agents, which are mainly being used for influencing the viscosity of the sheet moulding compounds. This way of (internal) drying, however, does not lead to a weight decrease of the laminar product, but merely to lowering the content of free moisture and/or volatiles in the compound.
• the chopped fibrous material as used in the process according to the invention, " consists of glass ravings having an average length in the range of from 12 to 60 mm.
• the chopped fibrous material preferably has strand tex numbers in the range of from 18 to 300 tex, especially preferred in the range of from 35 to 100 tex.
• At least 85 wt.% of the fibrous material is being substantially 2D-randomly distributed between two layers of the resin mixture.
• continuous fibres are being distributed and impregnated between and in two layers of the resin mixture together with, and in the same plane as, the chopped fibres.
• the fibrous material used consists of glass fibres and contains less than 1 wt.% of sizing and binder material, as determined by a loss-on-ignition test. In such case laminar products with best homogeneity and outer appearance are being obtained.
• the process can be performed more consistently, i.e. the properties of the products obtained show less variations over subsequent production runs;
• the production process to form the wet laminar products is very rapid as compared with the production rate of prior art routes.
• Laminar products can be produced at a speed of up to 10 m/min and even higher. Until now this was impossible with impregnation processes (e.g. of EP-A-0845346). Moreover, in such prior art processes the consistency of the products made was much more sensitive to speed variations.
• the laminar products made according to the invention can conveniently be used, upon removal of the first and second carrier sheets, in closed mould processes, e.g. for flow moulding. In such processes, the inlay pattern usually will be smaller than the dimensions of the moulding part. However, using the laminar parts obtained according to the invention, also 100% inlay is possible.
• the fibrous material present in the laminar products of the invention is evenly spread over the final moulded parts, thereby providing suitable mechanical properties homogeneously throughout the product; the fibrous material also will be adequately spread into projections, ridges and rims.
• the pressure used in such flow moulding processes is usually between 1 and 20 MPa (between about 10 and 200 bar), preferably between 5 and 10 MPa (between about 50 and 100 bar).
• the usual moulding temperature, which also ensures the curing of the thermosetting resin, is between 50 and 200°C, preferably between 140 and 170°C.
• the present invention therefore also relates to use of the laminar products according to the invention or obtained through a process according to the invention, upon removal of the first and second carrier sheets, in a closed mould production process.
• the invention also relates to moulded products obtained in a closed mould process with the aid of a laminar product according to the invention or obtained through a process according to the invention.
• Very satisfactory mechanical properties of the moulded products are achieved if 10 - 35% by weight of fibrous material and 90 - 65% by weight of resin mixture are used, the resin mixture preferably containing 30 - 70% by weight of fillers and 70 - 30% by weight of aminoplastic formaldehyde resin.
• the laminar products according to the invention products obtained have better isotropic properties than the products of the state of the art and, as a result, there are no problems of warpage, etc. which often occur in moulded products produced differently.
• the products obtained have very good mechanical properties as a result of the excellent flow of the product according to the invention during the flow moulding.
• Typical mechanical properties for an average glass-fibre content of 20% by weight and glass fibre lengths of between 12 mm and 60 mm are: flexural strength (ISO 178) of 140 - 250 MPa, flexural modulus (ISO 178) of 15 - 25 GPa and Charpy impact strength (ISO 179) of 25 - 80 kJm "2 .
• It is an additional advantage of the laminar products according to the invention is that mechanical properties are obtained which are in the same range as for products of the prior art, but at a lower content of fibrous material in the product.
• the aminoplast resin mixture comprises a melamine-aldehyde resin and a fire retardant additive, the amount of melamine-aldehyde resin being from 15 to 25 wt.%, more preferably from 16 to 20 wt.%, of the total weight of the laminar product.
• the laminar products can be used particularly satisfactorily in the manufacture of large moulded parts having, for example, ribs and projections, seat shells, casings, fittings, bodywork components for lorries and cars.
• Particularly suitable applications are seats and wall panels in trains and public transport (including aircraft), wall claddings for indoor or outdoor use, casings for electronic parts, such as used for example in ticketing and money provider systems, as well as kitchen appliances, such as cooker-plate frames, oven doors and the like.
• the particularly good fire-resistant properties, heat resistance, high- temperature dimensional stability, scratch resistance and good capability of pigmentation of the product are of great advantage.
• the resin mixture was transferred to two doctor boxes of a standard SMC line.
• the resin mixture was added on two carrier sheets (upper and lower, respectively).
• the type of carrier sheet used in this example is a PA film (Rodethul mono Yellow, from Eurozak, Diest, Belgium).
• Chopped fibrous material (the type and chopped length of the fibrous material used in each of the examples is shown in Table 1) is put on the lower carrier sheet in an amount of 20 wt.% (based on final dry compound, see point D).
• the upper and lower carrier sheets with the resin mixture and fibrous material were brought together. Impregnation of the fibrous material occurred in the compaction zone.
• Drying of the laminar product obtained after step C. was done, without removal of any of the carrier sheets, in either of two ways: (i) Drying in tunnel oven (commonly being used for drying melamine impregnated laminates): temperature setting was 140°C and residence time was about 6 minutes. The residual loss on cure value of the laminar products obtained was 2 wt.%;
• Test specimens were sawn out of the panels obtained for flexural tests (ISO 178) and Charpy impact properties (ISO 179).
• the mechanical properties measured for the different glass types are shown in Table 1. Higher values of impact and flexural strength could be reached by leaving out the coarse pigments like Ti0 2 and Fe 2 0 3 . When only using carbon black a Charpy impact of up to 80 kJ/m 2 was reached.
• the visual judgement is based on the visibility of fibre bundles/strands in the final moulded products: - means fibre bundles are clearly visible + means that no fibre bundles can be seen by bare eye.
• Example I A material formulation as mentioned in Example I was produced on the SMC line between different types of carrier foil (see Table 2). During the impregnation no problems occurred. However, during drying in a tunnel oven at 140°C different behaviour of the carrier foils was observed. In some cases the upper and lower foils melted together at the edges and the pressure of the water vapour created a large balloon between the foils, resulting in blocking of the oven. In case of low temperature climate chamber drying the major drawback of these low water vapour permeable foils is that long drying times are needed. Table 2. Effect of different carrier foils

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
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• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
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• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Reinforced Plastic Materials (AREA)
• Compositions Of Macromolecular Compounds (AREA)

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• 2000
  • 2000-03-13 EP EP00200877A patent/EP1134074A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2001
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  • 2001-03-06 WO PCT/NL2001/000186 patent/WO2001068367A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
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