Optimizing Polymer Infusion Process for Thin Ply Textile Composites with Novel Matrix System

Abstract

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.

Investigation on Ultrasonic Welding Attributes of Novel Carbon/Elium® Composites

“…For the manufacturing of thermoplastic composite laminates, FOE sized 12K 2 × 2 twill weave dry carbon fibers supplied from CHOMARAT were used as the reinforcement of 380 gsm [57] and Elium ® 150 thermoplastic resin was used (Arkema, France) as the matrix material. Elium ® 150 resin undergoes radical polymerization to form high molecular weight acrylic co-polymers with the addition of a benzoyl peroxide initiator at a mixture ratio of resin to hardener 100:3 at room temperature (RT) [4,46,49,58]. For the adhesive bonding study of composite materials, SAF 30 5 adhesives were used, provided by Bostik [59].…”

Ultrasonic Welding of Novel Carbon/Elium® Thermoplastic Composites with Flat and Integrated Energy Directors: Lap Shear Characterisation and Fractographic Investigation

“…Elium ® 150 is a liquid thermoplastic resin, a recent invention from Arkema is an acrylic-based resin and the first of its kind that can be cured at room temperature. It undergoes radical polymerization to form high molecular weight acrylic co-polymers with a benzoyl peroxide initiator at a mixture ratio of resin to hardener 100:3 [5,63]. Table 1 summarizes the important properties of the Elium ® 150 resin.…”

“…The injection parameters used for integrated ED laminate were obtained by different manufacturing trials. Previous researches have shown a need to optimize the amount of vacuum, as there are chances of increasing the porosity with an uncontrolled vacuum when the monomer reaches the exotherm [5,63].…”

The influence of montmorillonite on the processing and properties of anionic polyamide 6/montmorillonite composites via vacuum assisted resin infusion

“…In order to produce large and complex TPCs, currently, the most widely applied manufacturing process, vacuum assisted resin infusion (VARI) , is the preferred choice. This process requires a resin that of a low viscosity (η < 1 Pa·s) and can be infused into a mold which is frequently pre‐placed with textile fiber.…”