Reinforced composite materials for use in the manufacture moulds and the use of such moulds

1. A method for producing a composite mould, comprising:

i) forming a substrate;

ii) applying a 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 a 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 a 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.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said syntactic foam moulding product adds rigidity to the produced composite mould.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said syntactic foam moulding product is sprayable and/or machineable.

4. The method of claim 1 , 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.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is sealed with a foam sealer product.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the foam sealer 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.

7. The method of claim 1 , 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.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres are coated with a coupling agent.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coupling agent comprises a plurality of molecules, each having:

i) a first end adapted to bond to a fibre of the plurality of reinforcing fibres; and

ii) a second end adapted to bond to the resin when cured.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and/or second curable resin comprises a liquid curable resin.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of reinforcing fibres comprise an average length of between about 5 mm and 20 mm for the structural layer.

12. The method of claim 1 , 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.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polyol reacted to prepare said wetting agent comprises trimetholylpropane or pentaerythritol.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises applying a foam sealer product to the substrate prior to applying the structural laminate.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein 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.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is inclusive of making and/or using a plug or composite plug.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is exclusive of making and/or using a plug or composite plug.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein said syntactic foam moulding product provides a durable and machineable moulding surface to the produced composite mould.

19. The method of claim 6 , wherein the polystyrene foam surface is CCP Styroguard.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polyol reacted to prepare said coupling agent comprises trimetholylpropane or pentaerythritol.