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Optical Measurement of Preform Impregnation in Resin Transfer Molding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Thomas Nowak  and
Jung-Hoon Chun
Thomas Nowak
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
Jung-Hoon Chun
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
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Abstract

Infiltration of preforms used to manufacture high-performance, advanced polymer composites can lead to void formation due to inhomogeneities within the preforms. Void formation occurs at three distinct length scales: the fiber, tow and part scales. Flow visualization experiments were used to characterize void formation at the tow and fiber scales. Effects of tow-scale inhomogeneities were studied by varying the warp angle of a woven fabric. Effects of fiber-scale inhomogeneities were studied using scale models of typical tows. The experiments indicate that minimization of void content requires a trade-off between fiberscale and tow-scale void formation.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 305: Symposium I – High-Performance Polymers and Polymer Matrix Composites , 1993 , 241
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

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