Abstract
A new artificial marble bathtub called “Crystal bathtub” was developed by applying an in-mold coating (IMC) process to compression molding. Unevenness of flow behavior of materials, molding pressure, and cured state was apt to an imperfect product, because of its largeness and deeply pressed shape. A tight adhesion between the base material and the coating was succeeded by use of BMC with a retarder and by optimization in injection time of the coating. Moreover, for the success in molding, it also was a key point to preserve the moldability of the coating. Thus, surface waviness of BMC was eliminated and IMC molded parts obtained had superior characteristics of fine smoothness and gloss, compared with a conventional marble like BMC.
