FRP sculpture production process

With the development of society, sculpture art has progressed from time to time. From the original clay sculptures, wooden sculptures, and stone sculptures made of natural materials, to bronze sculptures, ceramic sculptures and other metal and alloy sculptures made of artificial materials. Among them, the development of data technology provides a foundation for the indulgence of sculpture art. After the advent of FRP materials, due to its many advantages such as easy molding, strong design ability, lightweight and high strength, and relatively low cost, it was quickly applied to sculpture art. Using glass fiber reinforced plastic technology, it is possible to quickly and realistically reproduce the works made out of clay and keep them for a long time. As a result, FRP sculptures have often become landmarks in squares, commercial outlets, living quarters and playgrounds.

    There is a certain market demand for FRP sculptures, but it is not easy to make a good FRP sculpture. There are also some regrettable works in FRP sculptures, which affect the reputation of FRP sculptures to a certain level. To complete FRP sculptures with high quality, it is necessary to organically separate all the links of sculpture manufacturing together. FRP sculptures are divided into round sculptures and relief sculptures. The manufacture of round sculptures is the most difficult. If you control the manufacturing method of round sculptures, you can naturally create reliefs. Based on practical understanding, this article will discuss some links in the manufacture of glass fiber reinforced plastic round sculptures (hereinafter referred to as glass fiber reinforced plastic sculptures).

l Design and Molding

    Excellent sculpture works require a good design foundation, and the design of FRP sculptures should consider the characteristics of its materials and craftsmanship. The glass fiber reinforced plastic process is easy to form beautiful streamlined products, which can highlight the modern and period sense of the work. The arc shape and streamlined shape can be preferentially used in the design. In addition, because FRP has the advantages of lightweight and high strength, it can produce works with strong dynamics and small supporting areas. Sometimes FRP sculptures need to be coated with the surface layer of the gel coat. Since the gel coat has self-leveling properties, the gel coat layer has a certain leveling effect under the action of surface tension during curing. Under this condition, it is not suitable for expressing fine texture. These should be considered when designing.

    The original mold of the glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture can be molded with clay, and the ordinary plastic mold is completed by professionals. After the sculpture work is completed, after it has been naturally dull and has a certain strength, the manufacturing of the glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture mold can be stopped.

2 Glass fiber reinforced plastic manufacturing

    The glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture is made by hand lay-up. Before manufacturing, it will start from the angle of facilitating molding and demolding according to the shape characteristics of the sculpture, and the mold can be combined into several units to reproduce. In this way, unit products are formed, and then they are combined into a whole. Finally, the whole product is disposed and painted, and a glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture is completed.

2.1 Mold manufacturing

    Mold manufacturing is the key to FRP molding. Gypsum materials are often used in the manufacture of glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture molds, but the strength of gypsum materials is low and it is easy to deform when placed for a long time. This article introduces a better method of manufacturing FRP sculpture molds, that is, the method of manufacturing molds with silicone rubber and FRP materials.

    Silicone rubber materials are in a fluid state before use, with good mobility and filling properties. After preparation, the cross-linking reaction constitutes a rubber elastic body, which can have greater elastic deformation, and the water in the original mold has no effect on its cross-linking reaction. The cross-linked silicone rubber has good sealing performance and does not adhere to the original mold and glass fiber reinforced plastic. Using it as the outer surface material of the glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture mold can not only reproduce the shape of the work with high quality, but also ensure smooth demoulding. However, the silicone rubber cross-linked body is easy to deform, and when used as a mold, a support carrier is required. It can be used as the carrier material of the mold by applying the easy forming characteristics of FRP.

The detailed mold manufacturing method is: apply the prepared silicone rubber to the original mold several times, and the silicone rubber layer should be more than 1mm later. After the silicone rubber is cross-linked, a glass fiber reinforced plastic layer with a thickness of about 3 mm is formed on the silicone rubber. After the glass fiber reinforced plastic is cured, cut the overall mold along the divided unit blocks, and pay attention to cutting the glass fiber reinforced plastic layer and the silicone rubber layer at the same time when cutting. The connecting ribs are made between the unit blocks, and a slot should be set at the connecting ribs to ensure that the unit block molds are combined into a whole through the connecting ribs. After the above work is completed, the FRP unit block is demolded, and then the silicone rubber layer is removed, and the removed silicone rubber block is immediately put back into the FRP unit mold.

    Dust removal from the original mold →silicone rubber preparation →silicone rubber layer manufacturing → glass fiber reinforced plastic layer manufacturing → mold segmentation → joint rib manufacturing → demolding and assembling molds

2.2 Molding manufacturing

    The glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture adopts the hand lay-up molding method, and the molding circuit should be designed before manufacturing. Start from one end of the sculpture, combine a part of the mold and paste the product. After the previous part is solidified, the mold is assembled and the product is continued to be pasted. Under the premise of facilitating the molding operation, combine as many mold unit blocks as possible at one time. Repeat this, and finally leave a unit block, which is pre-formed and glued to the overall sculpture. The horns, legs, tails, etc. similar to animals in the FRP sculptures (reproduced online by Xiao Liu resin) are difficult to manufacture with the above methods

The part of the metal material can be made into a rough shape with the corresponding metal material, and then the glass fiber reinforced plastic is formed on the metal material, and it is trimmed by grinding.

    The sculpture surface is generally more complicated, so special treatment should be given to craft paving. Where it is difficult to place glass fiber mat, fill it with resin containing short fibers first, and then place glass fiber chopped strand mat and checkered cloth. The length of the glass fiber in the resin putty for the outer surface of the sculpture is preferably 10mm.

Resin putty ratio material for sculpture appearance Polyester resin glass fiber CaCO3 filler pigment Cobalt peroxide methyl ethyl ketone naphthoate dosage 1002010022-40.5-4 An important issue in the molding of glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture is the strengthening of the structure. The strengthening materials are generally metal profiles, and metal profiles are used. Welded into a sculpture (reproduced online by Xiao Liu resin) plastic inner skeleton. When forming and manufacturing, the metal skeleton is gradually buried in the sculpture. In this way, the rigidity and strength of the glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture is improved, and its service life is increased. Finally, the glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture assembly mold is completed by the metal skeleton device → filled with surface putty → laid chopped strand mat → laid checkered cloth → buried skeleton → final product demolding.

2.3 Post-processing

    On the one hand, the post-treatment of FRP sculptures is to repair some defects of the products after demolding, and more importantly, to create appearance effects. Commonly used appearance effects are copper-like and bronze-like colors, and the key is to prepare a color paste.

Concluding remarks

    Sculptures made of FRP materials have bright colors, fluent lines, a beautiful appearance and convenient installations. It can be made into a variety of exterior effects such as imitation gold, imitation copper, imitation stone, etc., thereby expressing a distinct sense of modernity and period. In the manufacture of sculptures with small supporting surfaces and strong dynamics, it has an advantage that other materials cannot compare. An excellent glass fiber reinforced plastic sculpture should start from design, remodeling, molding, post-processing, etc., and be completed by ensuring the quality of each link.