Experimental and Numerical Study of Vacuum Resin Infusion of Stiffened Carbon Fiber Reinforced Panels

Abstract

Liquid resin infusion processes are becoming attractive for aeronautic applications as an alternative to conventional autoclave-based processes. They still present several challenges, which can be faced only with an accurate simulation able to optimize the process parameters and to replace traditional time-consuming trial-and-error procedures. This paper presents an experimentally validated model to simulate the resin infusion process of an aeronautical component by accounting for the anisotropic permeability of the reinforcement and the chemophysical and rheological changes in the crosslinking resin. The input parameters of the model have been experimentally determined. The experimental work has been devoted to the study of the curing kinetics and chemorheological behavior of the thermosetting epoxy matrix and to the determination of both the in-plane and out-of-plane permeability of two carbon fiber preforms using an ultrasonic-based method, recently developed by the authors. The numerical simulation of the resin infusion process involved the modeling of the resin flow through the reinforcement, the heat exchange in the part and within the mold, and the crosslinking reaction of the resin. The time necessary to fill the component has been measured by an optical fiber-based equipment and compared with the simulation results.

Manufacturing Technologies of Carbon/Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites and Their Properties: A Review

“…Konstantopoulos et al [70] provide a good overview of the solutions and challenges in the field of liquid composite molding procedures, while van Oosterom et al [71] compare different infusion techniques in terms of process and mechanical parameters. Therefore, to address some of the limitations of the VARTM process, future research directions should focus on several issues, including optimal design and manufacture of the preform (to achieve good control of permeability and compaction), development of a new resin system with viscosity and cure kinetics, improving the filling/infusion time of the resin compartments, development of reusable packaging systems, improving flow and curing control and increasing reliability in detecting and remedying leaks during the process [72].…”

Effects of additives on the cure kinetics of vinyl ester pultrusion resins

“…15,16 Engineers widely use mathematical models to optimize composite manufacturing processes, thus avoiding costly trial and error experiments. [17][18][19][20] Numerical simulation of the curing process enables the selection of process parameters and pulling speed such that the thermal peak of the reaction occurs within the die block, ensuring the fabrication of high-quality pultruded profiles. 21,22 Currently, the following models of polymerization kinetics are applied to simulate pultrusion: first-order reaction (F1), 23 second-order reaction (F2), 24,25 nthorder reaction (Fn), [26][27][28][29][30][31] nth-order autocatalytic reaction (Cn), 32 expanded Prout-Tompkins equation (Bna), [33][34][35] Kamal-Sourour autocatalytic model.…”

Detection and Quantification of Delamination Failures in Marine Composite Bulkheads via Vibration Energy Variations

“…Three sandwich bulkhead panels with identical dimensions and three different damage levels were kindly manufactured by TUCO shipyards using the process of vacuum infusion procedure, which is a technique commonly applied for the manufacturing of composite components in the aeronautic and shipping industry [ 31 ]. The dimensions of the three composite beams are 1800 mm length, 750 mm width, and 35 mm depth.…”