Impact reinforced composite panel

Abstract

A composite panel having front and back faces, the panel comprising facing reinforcement, backing reinforcement and matrix material binding to the facing and backing reinforcements, the facing and backing reinforcements each independently comprising (i) one or more reinforcing sheets and/or (ii) one or more generally planar arrays of longitudinally arranged, spaced apart, reinforcing rods which are interconnected by means for resisting increase of the spacing distance between adjacent rods, at least one rod array (ii) being present in the facing and/or backing reinforcement wherein the means for resisting increase of the spacing distance between adjacent rods is transverse filamentary interlacing of rods in the array, the facing reinforcement being located on or embedded in matrix material adjacent to the front face of the panel, the backing reinforcement being located in a plane or planes substantially parallel to the plane or planes of the facing reinforcement, and being substantially coextensive therewith, and spaced therefrom by matrix material.

1 . A composite panel having front and back faces, the panel comprising facing reinforcement, backing reinforcement and matrix material binding to the facing and backing reinforcements, 
 the facing and backing reinforcements each independently comprising (i) one or more reinforcing sheets and/or (i) one or more generally planar arrays of longitudinally arranged, spaced apart, reinforcing rods which are interconnected by means for resisting increase of the spacing distance between adjacent rods,    at least one rod array (ii) being present in the facing and/or backing reinforcement wherein the means for resisting increase of the spacing distance between adjacent rods is transverse filamentary interlacing of rods in the array,    the facing reinforcement being located on or embedded in matrix material adjacent to the front face of the panel,    the backing reinforcement being located in a plane or planes substantially parallel to the plane or planes of the facing reinforcement, and being substantially coextensive therewith, and spaced therefrom by matrix material.    
     
     
         2 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the facing and/or backing reinforcements are each independently constituted by a plurality of layers of reinforcing sheets and/or reinforcing rod arrays.  
     
     
         3 . A panel as claimed in  claim 2  wherein some or all of the adjacent layers in the facing or backing reinforcement are spaced from each other by a gap filled with matrix material.  
     
     
         4 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein at least two adjacent rod arrays are present in the facing and/or backing reinforcement, one array being laid at an angle to the other, in at least one of which of which the means for resisting increase of the spacing distance between adjacent rods is transverse filamentary interlacing of rods in the array.  
     
     
         5 . A panel as claimed in  claim 4  wherein ties and/or welds and/or glue bonds are formed at the nodes of the resultant grid of rods as additional means for resisting increase of the spacing distance between adjacent rods.  
     
     
         6 . A panel as claimed in  claim 4  wherein the two arrays of rods are superimposed at an angle to each other, the rods of each array are transversely interlaced to tie the rods to a fixed spacing, and the interlacing filaments are arranged to be twisted around each or selected intersections of the superimposed arrays to tie the arrays together at such intersections.  
     
     
         7 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the facing and backing reinforcements, and optionally any plurality of reinforcement layers constituting the facing and/or backing reinforcements, are interconnected and/or anchored in the matrix material, to resist out-of-plane relative movement.  
     
     
         8 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the facing reinforcement is located on or embedded in matrix material formulated to be harder than matrix material present elsewhere In the panel.  
     
     
         9 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the backing reinforcement is located on or embedded in matrix material formulated to be more ductile than matrix material present elsewhere in the panel.  
     
     
         10 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the facing reinforcement or at least one layer thereof is harder than the backing reinforcement or any layer thereof.  
     
     
         11 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the matrix material is cementitious, metallic, ceramic or resinous.  
     
     
         12 . A panel as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the matrix material includes fibres and/or silica or carborundum sand.  
     
     
         13 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the matrix material is cementitious and includes steel fibers.  
     
     
         14 . A panel as claimed in  claim 13  wherein the cementitious matrix material is a DSP material.  
     
     
         15 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the back and/or front face of the panel is adapted to resist fragmentation or splintering when the front face of the panel is subjected to impact force.  
     
     
         16 . A panel as claimed in  claim 15  wherein the back and/or front face of the panel is adapted to resist fragmentation or splintering by means of a flexible fragment containment layer located on the back and/or front face of the panel.  
     
     
         17 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  in which the facing or backing reinforcement comprises a plurality of layers of reinforcement sheets and/or rod arrays, and the material constituting one such layer is harder or lighter than the material constituting another such layer.  
     
     
         18 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein panel support elements are incorporated in the matrix between facing and backing reinforcement to facilitate support of the panel in a structure including the panel.  
     
     
         19 . A panel as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the facing and backing reinforcements each consist of a single interlaced rod array (ii).