Optimizing Polymer Infusion Process for Thin Ply Textile Composites with Novel Matrix System
For mass production of structural composites, use of different textile patterns, custom preforming, room temperature cure high performance polymers and simplistic manufacturing approaches are desired. Woven fabrics are widely used for infusion processes owing to their high permeability but their loc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-03-01
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| Series: | Materials |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/10/3/293 |
| _version_ | 1811239826349883392 |
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| author | Somen K. Bhudolia Pavel Perrotey Sunil C. Joshi |
| author_facet | Somen K. Bhudolia Pavel Perrotey Sunil C. Joshi |
| author_sort | Somen K. Bhudolia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For mass production of structural composites, use of different textile patterns, custom preforming, room temperature cure high performance polymers and simplistic manufacturing approaches are desired. Woven fabrics are widely used for infusion processes owing to their high permeability but their localised mechanical performance is affected due to inherent associated crimps. The current investigation deals with manufacturing low-weight textile carbon non-crimp fabrics (NCFs) composites with a room temperature cure epoxy and a novel liquid Methyl methacrylate (MMA) thermoplastic matrix, Elium®. Vacuum assisted resin infusion (VARI) process is chosen as a cost effective manufacturing technique. Process parameters optimisation is required for thin NCFs due to intrinsic resistance it offers to the polymer flow. Cycles of repetitive manufacturing studies were carried out to optimise the NCF-thermoset (TS) and NCF with novel reactive thermoplastic (TP) resin. It was noticed that the controlled and optimised usage of flow mesh, vacuum level and flow speed during the resin infusion plays a significant part in deciding the final quality of the fabricated composites. The material selections, the challenges met during the manufacturing and the methods to overcome these are deliberated in this paper. An optimal three stage vacuum technique developed to manufacture the TP and TS composites with high fibre volume and lower void content is established and presented. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:07:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5287c3ebda434661854a1536c9793dc1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1944 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:07:57Z |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-5287c3ebda434661854a1536c9793dc12022-12-22T03:31:58ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442017-03-0110329310.3390/ma10030293ma10030293Optimizing Polymer Infusion Process for Thin Ply Textile Composites with Novel Matrix SystemSomen K. Bhudolia0Pavel Perrotey1Sunil C. Joshi2School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, SingaporeInstitute for Sports Research, Nanyang Technological University, 50, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, SingaporeSchool of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, SingaporeFor mass production of structural composites, use of different textile patterns, custom preforming, room temperature cure high performance polymers and simplistic manufacturing approaches are desired. Woven fabrics are widely used for infusion processes owing to their high permeability but their localised mechanical performance is affected due to inherent associated crimps. The current investigation deals with manufacturing low-weight textile carbon non-crimp fabrics (NCFs) composites with a room temperature cure epoxy and a novel liquid Methyl methacrylate (MMA) thermoplastic matrix, Elium®. Vacuum assisted resin infusion (VARI) process is chosen as a cost effective manufacturing technique. Process parameters optimisation is required for thin NCFs due to intrinsic resistance it offers to the polymer flow. Cycles of repetitive manufacturing studies were carried out to optimise the NCF-thermoset (TS) and NCF with novel reactive thermoplastic (TP) resin. It was noticed that the controlled and optimised usage of flow mesh, vacuum level and flow speed during the resin infusion plays a significant part in deciding the final quality of the fabricated composites. The material selections, the challenges met during the manufacturing and the methods to overcome these are deliberated in this paper. An optimal three stage vacuum technique developed to manufacture the TP and TS composites with high fibre volume and lower void content is established and presented.http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/10/3/293NCFsVARImanufacturingElium®thermosetthermoplasticoptimisation |
| spellingShingle | Somen K. Bhudolia Pavel Perrotey Sunil C. Joshi Optimizing Polymer Infusion Process for Thin Ply Textile Composites with Novel Matrix System Materials NCFs VARI manufacturing Elium® thermoset thermoplastic optimisation |
| title | Optimizing Polymer Infusion Process for Thin Ply Textile Composites with Novel Matrix System |
| title_full | Optimizing Polymer Infusion Process for Thin Ply Textile Composites with Novel Matrix System |
| title_fullStr | Optimizing Polymer Infusion Process for Thin Ply Textile Composites with Novel Matrix System |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optimizing Polymer Infusion Process for Thin Ply Textile Composites with Novel Matrix System |
| title_short | Optimizing Polymer Infusion Process for Thin Ply Textile Composites with Novel Matrix System |
| title_sort | optimizing polymer infusion process for thin ply textile composites with novel matrix system |
| topic | NCFs VARI manufacturing Elium® thermoset thermoplastic optimisation |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/10/3/293 |
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