Abstract
Crush experiments have been performed on polyester and vinyl ester composite tubes. The preforms were made of random glass mat and the tubes were produced by resin transfer moulding.The effects ofdifferent processing parameters were investigated. Flat plaques were also produced under similar conditions in order to measure in plane properties of the composite material. The two main objectives of the study were to quantify the effect of industrial manufacturing conditions on the crush performance of composite structures and to correlate the performance to a number of in plane laminate properties. The manufacturing parameters considered are resin related:the mould temperature, post-cure time, and resin composition were varied according to a full factorial experimental plan. In addition to crush experiments, the tensile and compressive moduli and ultimate stresses were determined; the degree of conversion was also measured. The results demonstrate that while relationships between all in plane properties and the crush performance can be observed, the ultimate compressive stress is the most reliable indicator of this performance. The results also show clear advantages associated with the vinyl ester resin, and the many intricacies pertaining to the modelling of the effect of processing parameters on crush performance.
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