Golf club head with a compression-molded, thin-walled aft-body
A multiple-material golf club and a method for forming said golf club is disclosed herein. The multiple-material golf club preferably is a driver that has a metal face cup and a thin-walled, compression molded, composite aft body with precise IML and OML geometry. The molding composite used to form the compression molded aft body preferably comprises a plurality of randomly oriented, pre-spread carbon fiber bundles and a thermoset or thermoplastic matrix material.
1. A golf club head comprising at least one part,
wherein the at least one part comprises a first molding compound,
wherein the first molding compound comprises a matrix material, a plurality of carbon fibers having a length of less than 0.25 inch, and at least one of a plurality of carbon nanotubes and a plurality of carbon graphene platelets,
wherein the carbon fibers are randomly oriented within the matrix material, and
wherein the golf club head has a coefficient of restitution of 0.81 to 0.84.
2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of carbon nanotubes is a multi-wall carbon nanotube.
3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein 40-70% of the volume of the first molding compound is composed of carbon fibers.
4. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the matrix material is a thermosetting material.
5. The golf club head of claim 4 , wherein the thermosetting material is selected from the group of a vinyl ester and an epoxy.
6. The golf club head of claim 1 , further comprising a second molding compound comprising a matrix material and carbon fibers having a length of at least 0.25 inch and no more than 2 inches, wherein the second molding compound is co-molded with the first molding compound to form the part.
7. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the first molding compound comprises a plurality of fiberglass fibers.
8. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the first molding compound comprises a plurality of aramid fibers.
9. A golf club head comprising at least one part,
wherein the at least one part comprises a laminate composite material and a molding compound,
wherein the molding compound comprises a matrix material, a plurality of carbon fibers having a length of at least 0.25 inch and no more than 2 inches, and at least one of a plurality of carbon nanotubes and a plurality of carbon graphene platelets,
wherein the carbon fibers are randomly oriented within the matrix material,
wherein the matrix material is selected from the group consisting of a vinyl ester and an epoxy, and
wherein the laminate composite material and the molding compound are co-molded to form the part.
10. The golf club head of claim 9 , wherein the at least one part has a wall thickness of no less than 0.020 inch and no more than 0.125 inch.
11. The golf club head of claim 9 , wherein the molding compound comprises at least one filler selected from the group consisting of nanofibers, nanotube fibers, aramid fibers, and fiberglass fibers.
12. The golf club head of claim 9 , wherein the matrix material has a specific gravity of no less than 1.0 and no more than 1.7.
13. A golf club head comprising at least one part,
wherein the at least one part comprises a laminate composite material and a molding compound,
wherein the molding compound comprises a matrix material, a plurality of carbon fibers having a length of less than 0.25 inch, and at least one of a plurality of carbon nanotubes and a plurality of carbon graphene platelets,
wherein the carbon fibers are randomly oriented within the matrix material, and
wherein the laminate composite material and the molding compound are co-molded to form the part.
14. The golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the at least one part is selected from the group consisting of a crown and a sole.
15. The golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the at least one part has a wall thickness of no less than 0.020 inch and no more than 0.125 inch.
16. The golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the molding compound comprises at least one filler selected from the group consisting of nanofibers, nanotube fibers, aramid fibers, and fiberglass fibers.