Method of producing preform
View Patent ↗A method of producing a preform, having a step for preparing a sheet-shaped prepreg and a preform mold having a forming surface and a separable portion constituting at least a portion of the forming surface, forming the prepreg using the preform mold, and then removing the preform together with the separable portion from the preform mold.
1. A method of producing a preform, the method comprising:
situating a sheet-shaped prepreg comprising reinforcement fibers and at least one resin into a preform mold having a forming surface and a separable portion constituting at least a portion of the forming surface; and
removing the preform from the preform mold together with the separable portion after forming the prepreg with the preform mold,
wherein the separable portion is formed of a material that is not deformed at a temperature at which the prepreg is formed into the shape of the preform.
2. The method of producing a preform according to claim 1 , wherein the material of the separable portion comprises a different material from materials of the preform mold.
3. The method of producing a preform according to claim 1 , wherein the prefoim mold is configured as a pair of molds.
4. The method of producing a preform according to claim 3 , wherein the separator portion is situated in only one of the pair of molds.
5. The method of producing a preform according to claim 3 , wherein each of the pair of molds has the separable portion on at least a portion of the forming surface thereof.
6. The method of producing a preform according to claim 1 , wherein the material of the separable portion is a metal or a resin composition.
7. The method of producing a preform according to claim 6 , wherein the material of the separable portion is a resin composition, which is a thermosetting resin comprising a fiber-reinforced composite material.
8. The method of producing a preform according to claim 7 , wherein the separable portion has a thickness of 0.5 to 10.0 mm.
9. The method of producing a prefonn according to claim 1 , wherein the method does not comprise cooling of the prefoiin prior to the removing of the preform from the preform mold.
10. The method of producing a preform according to claim 7 , wherein the thermosetting resin composition comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of an epoxy resin, an unsaturated polyester resin, an acrylic resin, a vinyl ester resin, a phenolic resin and a benzoxazine resin.
11. The method of producing a preform according to claim 7 , wherein the thermosetting resin composition comprises unsaturated polyester resins.