Vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding ( v m of sandwich panels can be facilitated by using high permeability layers (HPL) over the skins or adding channels in the surfaces of the core (CIC). The present paper investigates the advantages and disadvantages of both methods in terms of manufacturing cost and time through simulations and experimental observations. A cost model is developed, and the resin infusion time for each method was minimized through simulations. The design parameters are the number of high-permeability layers and the number and size of channels. A penalty function with equal weight on cost and time is used to find the optimum values of the design parameters. Under the conditions studied, the optimal HPL method is found to be better than the optimal CIC method. While the conclusion is limited to the present study, the proposed approach can be used to optimize manufacturing processes for larger sandwich panels under different conditions.
Crack patterns of 53 nm and 103 nm thick silicon oxide coatings on poly(ethylene terephthalate) films are analyzed under equibiaxial stress loading, by means of a bulging cell mounted under an optical microscope with stepwise pressurization of film specimens. The biaxial stress and strain are modeled from classical elastic membrane equations, and an excellent agreement is obtained with a finite element method. In the large pressure range, the derivation of the biaxial strain from force equilibrium considerations are found to reproduce accurately the measured data up to 25% strain. The examination of the fragmentation process of the coating under increasing pressure levels reveals that the crack onset strain of the oxide coating is similar to that measured under uniaxial tension. The fragmentation of the coating under biaxial tension is also characterized by complex dynamic phenomena which image the peculiarities of the stress field, resulting in considerable broadening of the fragment size distribution. The evolution of the average fragment area as a function of biaxial stress in the early stages of the fragmentation process is analyzed using Weibull statistics to describe the coating strength.
The vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) of sandwich panels may be facilitated by using high permeability layers over the skins or adding grooves in the surfaces of the core. The present paper investigates the advantages and disadvantages of both methods in terms of manufacturing cost and time through simulations and experimental observations. Before comparison, each method is optimized through simulations. The panel geometry and the injection pressure are held constant. The design parameters are the number of high permeability layers, and the number and size of grooves. The optimized processes are finally compared with each other in terms of the aforementioned cost and time. Meanwhile, the sensitivities of several important parameters in the cost model to the optimal result are studied.
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