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Todos los d
derechos reservados. Documento cconfidencial.

Infusin de resina: Prctica 4

Pag. 1

Resin infusion
Resin infusion
 Dry

reinforcement and resin are supplied separately before the manufacturing of the
part.
 A preform of dry reinforcement is manufactured (lay-up and stitching of fabric
patterns, braiding,...) and placed into the mould. Then, the mould is closed and the
preform is impregnation with the resin by a process of infusion.
 The infusion can be done using liquid resin (LRI, RTM...), or solid resin integrated
together
g
with the p
preform during
g the lay-up
y pp
process ((RFI).
)

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LIQUID RESIN

FILM OF RESIN

Pag. 2

Resin infusion
Resin infusion
General

characteristics

METHOD

CHARACTERISTICS

PROS

CONS

High investment in
i
t manufacturing
f t i off
equipments:
C
l structures
t t
Complex
performs, moulds presses,
Good repetitivity: control of
injection equipments.
Vf through the shape of
the mould
Require very liquid resins (low
damage tolerance)
High surface quality
Difficult automatisation

RTM
(Mould closed by
mechanical pressure)

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derechos reservados. Documento cconfidencial.

RLI ((VARTM,, MVI))

(vacuum and autoclave
pressure)

RFI
(Vacuum and autoclave
pressure))
p

Dry fabric
reinforcement + resin
(liquid or film)
Allow parts with high
geometrical
complexity (3D)
Storing of
reinforcement at RT
Single or bicomponent resins
M di
Medium-large
l
series
i

Tooling similar to prepreg

g
based manufacturing
Require very liquid resins (low
Investments similar or
damage tolerance)
lower than prepreg based
manufacturing

Tooling similar to prepreg

Require the use of resin films:
based manufacturing
difficult thickness control,
Resins similar to those
complex storing
used in prepreg based
Do not allow very complex
manufacturing
ti
geometries
Investments similar or
High cost of preforms
lower than prepreg based
manufacturing.
Pag. 3

 AIRBUS S.A.S. Todos los d

derechos reservados. Documento cconfidencial.

Acronym anarchy !

CIRTM:
Crystic VI:
DRDF:
LRI:
MVI
Quickstep
RFI:
RIFT:
RIRM:
SCRIMP
VAIM:
VAP
VARI:
VARIM:
V(A)RTM:
VIM:
VIMP:
VM/RTM Light:
VIP:

co-injection RTM
vacuum infusion (Scott Bader)
double RIFT diaphragm forming (University of Warwick)
liquid resin infusion
modified vacuum infusion (Airbus)
use of liquids for enhanced heat transfer in infusion
resin film infusion
resin infusion under flexible tooling (ACMC Plymouth)
resin injection recirculation moulding
Seeman Composites Resin Infusion Molding Process (TPI)
vacuum-assisted injection moulding
vacuum assisted processing (patented by EADS)
vacuum assisted resin injection system (Lotus Cars)
vacuum assisted resin injection moulding
vacuum (-assisted) resin transfer moulding
vacuum infusion moulding.
vacuum infusion moulding process
a hybrid RIFT/RTM (Plastech)
vacuum infusion process

Extracted from Resin Infusion under Flexible Tooling (RIFT). John Summerscales
Advanced Composites Manufacturing Centre
School of Marine Science and Engineering - University of Plymouth, UK
Pag. 4

Resin infusion
Resin transfer moulding (RTM)
Resin

infusion method more used in aerospace applications

Characteristics:
A two-part, matched-metal mould is
as tool
Liquid resin is pumped into the tool
The part is cured into the tool

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derechos reservados. Documento cconfidencial.

RTM

used

at a glimpse

Pag. 5

Resin infusion
Advantages and drawbacks of RTM

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derechos reservados. Documento cconfidencial.

Advantages
Excellent mechanical properties
High fiber volume
Relatively low capital equipment cost
Relatively
R l ti l llow costt off raw materials
t i l
Possibility of manufacturing of very complex geometries
High dimensional tolerances (even thicknesses)
Excellent surface control (mould finish over entire part)
Near-net shape parts possible
Excellent quality control possible
High repetitivity
High
Hi h capacity
it off parts
t iintegration,
t
ti
saving
i weigh
i h and
d llabour
b
costs
t iin assembly
bl
High capability of automatisation
Disadvantages

Size limitations
Manufacturing only with fabric and textile preforms
High tooling cost
Mould deflection during processing

Pag. 6

Resin infusion
Moulds: basic concepts
Same
S

function
f
ti than
th the
th mould
ld off a conventional
ti
l process

Parts:

Base mould
B
ld and
d closing
l i mould
ld
Internal modules
Sealing system
System for mould alignment
alignment, closing and
Systems of injection and vacuum
Heating and cooling system

compression

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derechos reservados. Documento cconfidencial.

This

elements configure the tool to achieve the final part with all its
geometrical and functional requirements:
G
Geometrical
t i l accuracy, ttolerances,
l
di
dimensional
i
l stability
t bilit and
d stiffness
tiff
Correct filling of the mould
Possibility of extraction of the part

Pag. 7

Aproximacin acadmica: Prctica de RTM

BOMBA DE VACO

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derechos reservados. Documento cconfidencial.

UTIL
+
PREFORMA

SISTEMA DE INYECCIN

Pag. 8

Aproximacin acadmica: Ley de Darcy

u =

P ,

siendo u : velocidad del frente de resina

Condiciones de contorno

K : permeabili dad
: viscosidad

l pared
dd
dell molde
ld
u .n = 0 en la

P : gradiente de presiones

P = Pinj en el punto de inyeccin

P = Po en el frente de resina

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derechos reservados. Documento cconfidencial.

u = 0

Ecuacin de continuidad

En caso de flujo unidireccional, la presin de la resina cae linealmente desde el punto de

inyeccin hasta el frente de resina. El tiempo de inyeccin ser entonces:

t=

2 K P

L2
Pag. 9

 AIRBUS S.A.S. Todos los d

derechos reservados. Documento cconfidencial.

Viscosity, Permeability: Some ideas from the U. Delaware

Pag. 10

MFS Tutorial Page 1

Pgina 1 de 1

A typical Resin Transfer Mold is

illustrated below.

The resin is injected under pressure through one or more "gates". The
air is expelled through vents. The vents should be located in the
region that fills last in order to avoid entrapped air that can cause "dry
spots".

file://C:\Temp\www.ccm.udel.edu\Techsite\Pages\MFS\MFS_Tutorial_pg1.html

12/04/2011

MFS Tutorial Page 5

Pgina 1 de 1

Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid to flow through the

open conduits and pores of a preform. Viscosity is defined by
Newtons law as the material characteristic that relates the stress
required to sustain a given strain rate. This law is schematically
defined below.

file://C:\Temp\www.ccm.udel.edu\Techsite\Pages\MFS\MFS_Tutorial_pg5.html

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MFS Tutorial Page 7

Pgina 1 de 1

As a consequence of the temperature dependence of the viscosity, a

temperature processing window is imposed on the mold. This
window is illustrated in the Figure below.

Initially the viscosity decrease as the monomers become more mobile

and less resistant to flow at elevated temperatures. However, a
continued increase in temperature causes the resin to react to from
higher molecular weight and less mobile species. Eventually the
systems begins to gel and form rigid cross linked networks that are
resistant to flow and the viscosity increases rapidly.
Viscosity is an important factor in selecting resins. If the viscosity is
too high, the resin will not flow easily and may not penetrate fiber
bundles. If the viscosity is too low, the resin may follow a path of
least resistance and leave voids or dry spots. As a rule of thumb, the
resin viscosity should be in the range of 100 to 1000 cps.

file://C:\Temp\www.ccm.udel.edu\Techsite\Pages\MFS\MFS_Tutorial_pg7.html

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MFS Tutorial Page 6

Pgina 1 de 1

Viscosity can be a strong function of temperature. In particular, at

higher mold temperatures the resin can begin to cure during filling. In
this event, the viscosity will increase dramatically and impede flow.
This situations is schematically illustrated below.

file://C:\Temp\www.ccm.udel.edu\Techsite\Pages\MFS\MFS_Tutorial_pg6.html

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MFS Tutorial Page 4

file://C:\Temp\www.ccm.udel.edu\Techsite\Pages\MFS\MFS_Tutorial_pg4.html

Pgina 1 de 1

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MFS Tutorial Page 9

Pgina 1 de 1

If a preform is isotropic in the in-plane directions such that Kxx =

Kyy , then the flow fronts progress as circles. This situation is

illustrated in the figure below.

Random fiber mats and symmetric bi-directional fabrics produce

isotropic preforms.

file://C:\Temp\www.ccm.udel.edu\Techsite\Pages\MFS\MFS_Tutorial_pg9.html

12/04/2011

MFS Tutorial Page 10

Pgina 1 de 1

If the preform is anisotropic in the plane with Kxx different from

Kyy, the flow fronts become elliptic and remain elliptic through out
filling. This situation is illustrated below.

The major and minor axes of the ellipse coincide with the in-plane
principal directions. The ratio of the major and minor axes of the
ellipse is equal to the ratio of the square roots of the principal
permeabilitys. This situation can be encountered with unidirectional
stitched mats.

file://C:\Temp\www.ccm.udel.edu\Techsite\Pages\MFS\MFS_Tutorial_pg10.html

12/04/2011

MFS Tutorial Page 8

Pgina 1 de 1

Preforms are usually assembled by stacking several plies of mats

and/or fabrics. The permeability for fluid flow in the plane of the
plies is generally much more than the permeability for the fluid flow
in the transverse or out-of-plane direction. This situation results in
anisotropy of the permeability. Consequently the directional
dependence of the permeability must be taken into account. The
figure below assigns directional indices to the permeability.

The quantities Kxx and Kyy denote the in-plane permeabilitys of

the preform: Kzz denotes the out-of-plane permeability

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MFS Tutorial page 11

Pgina 1 de 1

For multiple layers of plies, the overall effective permeabilitys can

be estimated by the relationships shown below.

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MFS Tutorial Page 12

Pgina 1 de 1

A phenomenon called "race tracking" or channeling is observed in

most mold filling situations. An example of race tracking is shown
below.

In this illustration, the fluid at the edge of the mold is moving ahead
of the fluid in the center due to high permeability regions near the
edges. This effect usually occurs because it is difficult to place the
preform into the mold so that the dimensions exactly match the mold
size. High permeability areas can also be created by the unraveling of
the fiber bundles during the cutting of the preform. Race tracking can
also develop when permeability gradients exist in the preform due to
preform deformation or "wash".
Race tracking can lead to voids and resin rich areas. However, in
some cases race tracking can enhance the uniformity of flow by
designing specific channels in the preform

file://C:\Temp\www.ccm.udel.edu\Techsite\Pages\MFS\MFS_Tutorial_pg12.html

12/04/2011

Aproximacin acadmica: Prctica de RTM

Los alumnos, en grupos de 4, realizarn un informe con una extensin
aproximada de 8 hojas, que deber incluir al menos los siguiente apartados:
 Descripcin

de la pieza a fabricar
fabricar, representada en la pgina anterior
anterior, el panel de 2x1 y 10
mm de espesor presentado en clase
 Descripcin del proceso de inyeccin. Los parmetros bsicos del proceso son
Presin de inyeccin:
y
0
Presin de vaco: 0.5 atm
Lquido inyectado: agua
Tiempo entre el inicio de la inyeccin y el inicio de salida del lquido inyectado (asociado a la velocidad
del frente del lquido en los bordes): 10 s
Tiempo de llenado (asociado a la velocidad del frente del lquido a travs de la diagonal): 100 s

de las permeabilidades en el borde (race-tracking) y en el centro del panel

empleando la expresin de la ley de Darcy para flujo unidireccional
 Descargar el programa MyRTM (http://www.myrtm.ch)
 Comparar la ley de Darcy y la definicin de permeabilidad empleada por dicho programa
 Con las permeabilidades obtenidas, y realizando las hiptesis necesarias (detallar):
AIRBUS S.A.S. Todos los d
derechos reservados. Documento cconfidencial.

 Obtencin

Modelizar el panel utilizando el ejecutable gmsh u otro programa CAD (CATIA, por ejemplo)
Realizar un mallado del panel utilizando el ejecutable gmsh
Alimentar el programa MyRTM con el modelo y las permeabilidades obtenidas, introduciendo el punto
de inyeccin mostrado en el ensayo
Ejecutar el programa realizando las hiptesis que el alumno considere necesarias.
 Describir
D
ibi

ell proceso d
de iinyeccin
i simulado,
i l d obteniendo
bt i d llos titiempos d
de proceso, y comparando
d
los resultados con los del ejercicio representado en clase
 El informe se entregar una semana despus del examen final de la asignatura
Pag. 11