Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Compression resin transfer molding (CRTM), combining resin transfer molding (RTM) and compression molding, have been developed to fabricate fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) components with large dimensions or high fiber volume content. Although a lot of literature on CRTM is available, relatively little useful technical information is present regarding the proper choice of molding conditions for component optimization. The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of process variables, including injection pressure, mold opening distance, resin temperature, compression pressure, pre-heated mold temperature, and cure temperature, on the quality of CRTM products. The influence of these process variables on the part quality are investigated by applying Taguchi’s method. The ultimate stress measured by tensile test serves as an indicator of the part quality. Experimental result show that the compression pressure and the resin temperature are significant variables for improvements in the mechanical properties of the part, while the effect of pre-heated mold temperature on the mechanical properties appears to be trivial.

Keywords

compression resin transfer molding resin transfer molding fiber reinforced plastics Taguchi’s method

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Brockmann, C. and Michaeli, W. (1997). Injection Compression Moulding - A Low Pressure Process for Manufacturing Textile-Covered Mouldings , ANTEC’97, 1: 441-445 .

Young, W. B. and Chiu, C. W. (1995). Study on Compression Resin Transfer Molding , J. Compos. Mater. 29(16): 2180-2191 .

Han, K. , Ni, J. , Toth, J. , Lee, L. J. and Greene, J. P. (1998). Analysis of an Injection/Compression Liquid Composite Molding Process , Polym. Composite, 19(4): 487-496 .

Wirth, S. and Gauvin, R. (1998). Experimental Analysis of Mold Filling in Compression Resin Transfer Molding , J. Reinf. Plast. Comp., 17(16): 1414-1430 .

Pham, X. T. and Trochu, F. (1999). Simulation of Compression Resin Transfer Molding to Manufacture Thin Composite Shell , Polym. Composite, 20(3): 436-459 .

Pham, X. T. , Trochu, F. and Gauvin, R. (1998). Simulation of Compression Resin Transfer Molding with Displacement Control , J. Reinf. Plast. Comp., 17(17): 1525-1556 .

Kang, M. K. and Lee, W. I. (1999). Analysis of Resin Transfer/Compression Molding Process , Polym. Composite, 20(2): 293-304 .

Bickerton, S. and Abdullah, M. Z. (2003). Modeling and Evaluation of the Filling Stage of Injection/Compression Moulding , Compos. Sci. Technol., 63(10): 1359-1375 .

Riche, R. L. , Saouab, A. and Br’eard, J. (2003). Coupled Compression RTM and Composite Layup Optimization , Compos. Sci. Technol., 63(15): 2277-2287 .

10.

Hayward, J. S. and Harris, B. (1990). Effect of Process Variables on the Quality of RTM Mouldings , SAMPE J., 26(3): 39-46 .

11.

Chen, Y. T. , Daves H. T. and Macosko, C. W. (1995). Wetting of Fiber Mats for Composites Manufacturing: I. Visualization Experiments , AICHE J., 41(10): 2261-2273 .

12.

Madhav, S. P. (1989). Steps in Robust Design, Quality Engineering Using Robust Design, pp. 67-96, Prentice Hall, New Jersey .

Effect of Process Variables on the Quality of Compression Resin Transfer Molding

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References