Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The early history of the resin transfer moulding process for aerospace
applications
K.D. Potter
Aerospace Engineering Department, University of Bristol, Queens Building, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TR, UK
Received 3 July 1998; accepted 16 September 1998
Abstract
The resin transfer moulding (RTM) process has been the subject of a great deal of practical and theoretical development for aerospace
applications since the early 1980s. This article looks at the very early developments of RTM in an aerospace setting. This development took
place over a few years at the start of the 1950s. By 1956 almost all the features of RTM for aerospace applications had been introduced in a
series of six patents. This achievement was made without any of the theoretical infrastructure now considered critical and was the work of a
small group within a single company. The developed technology dropped from view in the general aerospace composites community and had
to be redeveloped 25 years after the last patent was applied for. 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Aerospace applications; E. Resin transfer moulding (RTM)
1. Introduction
It is generally assumed that Resin Transfer Moulding
(RTM) is a process that was developed for general aerospace applications in the 1980s, following on from some
limited earlier applications such as aircraft radomes. The
development of the technology of RTM is understood to
have been underpinned and made possible by a substantial
research effort aimed at explicating fundamental aspects of
the process and turning these into effective process models.
The state of the art can be described as noted in the list
given below.
1. Proven and patented process.
2. Demonstrated for complex integrated components
including curved and stiffened panels.
3. Demonstrated for closely toleranced components.
4. Resin flow lengths up to 3.6 m achieved, although flow
lengths up to 1.8 m preferred.
5. Metallic inserts may be used.
6. Combination processes using an element of prepreg
with additional resin introduced under pressure are
possible.
7. A variety of resin types may be used.
8. A variety of reinforcement types used including shape
woven preforms and other preform types.
9. Tools sealed and evacuated, tools made of metal or
composite, importance of adequate stiffness in tools
understood.
1359-835X/99/$ - see front matter 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S1359-835 X( 98)00 179-1
620
up by vacuum from the top of the tool. This process was also
later used in the manufacture of aircraft and missile nosecones, and versions were utilised in which pressure rather
than vacuum was used to drive the resin. The basic vacuum
injection process was very problematical and unsuitable for
complex geometries or the majority of potential applications
in aerospace.
What we would now recognise as RTM was described in
a series of patents with priority dates between 1952 and
1956 [26], by Harold John Pollard and John Rees (Pollard
and co-workers for the first two patents) of Bristol Aircraft
Limited. They did this at a time when the only reinforcements offering a better stiffness to weight ratio than steel
were plant fibres and asbestos, and the resin of first choice
was phenolic, although polyester and epoxy resins had been
commercially available for some years. One of the spurs to
the development was clearly the difficulties being encountered in moulding complex shapes with asbestos/phenolic
prepregs. Unless hydrostatic pressure could be guaranteed
the water evolved in the condensation reaction would
damage the laminate properties. One way to guarantee the
pressure is to inject resin at high pressure to flood the tool
cavity and act as a pressure medium. The patent to cover this
was applied for in November 1952 [2] and included a claim
relating to moulded-in metal inserts. In this case the injected
resin was intended to be filled with short asbestos fibres both
to provide a pressure medium and to build up stiffening ribs
on the moulding, which was intended as an integrally stiffened wing skin. In November 1953 [3] another patent was
applied for, this extended the idea to an integrally stiffened
airfoil to be made in one shot from reinforced phenolic or
(significantly) polyester resin. Fig. 1 shows just how ambitious this proposal was. In this case the whole geometry is
intended to be filled with reinforcement plies, although
these are still said to be pre-impregnated. The baseline
process is still seen as the high pressure injection of filled
phenolic resin over felts of preimpregnated asbestos phenolic, but the patent also discusses the use of polyester resin at
low injection pressure and the use of woven reinforcements
rather than felts.
The patent applied for in February 1955 [4] describes a
process that would be immediately recognisable as RTM.
The applications quoted for the invention are aircraft fuselages and automobile bodies and the illustrative component
is an integrally stiffened shell with double curvature. There
is sufficient detail given in the patent to demonstrate that this
is no armchair patent and that real parts had been made and
problems in their manufacture had been overcome. For
example the maximum resin flow length is quoted as
12 ft, whilst 6 ft is said to be a preferable limit. The patent
621
utilised; at least one side of the mould was made of translucent GRP and the flow could be directly visualised. That this
would not necessarily be an acceptable solution today does
not invalidate the approach taken in the 1950s. Pollard and
Rees identified technical problems and produced engineering solutions rather than science-based solutions. There is a
tendency among researchers to assume that technical
progress follows scientific understanding, as often as not
the reverse is true as is shown in the development and
re-development of RTM.
Acknowledgements
Occasionally one is lucky enough to be able to trace ones
debts to previous workers in the field and so this article is
respectfully dedicated to Messrs Harold John Pollard and
John Rees.
References
[1] Spaulding K. Fibreglass boats in naval service. US Naval Engineers
Journal 1966;78:333340.
[2] British Patent Specification, 778, 683.
[3] British Patent Specification, 778, 685.
[4] British Patent Specification, 790, 639.
[5] British Patent Specifications, 849, 351, 2.
[6] British Patent Specification, 828, 453.
[7] Pickthall D. New design possibilities with Glass Fibre Reinforced
Plastics. Engineering Materials and Design 1960;3(2):96100.
[8] Product announcement. Engineering Materials and Design 2 (1959) 4.
[9] Potter K. Fabrication techniques for advanced composite components. Proc Inst Mech Engrs 1989;203.
[10] T. Cook, H. Bertram, P. Bini, Development of the MRCA radome. In:
Proceedings of the third international conference on electromagnetic
windows, Paris, 1975.
[11] R. McCarthy, G, Haines, R. Newley, Polymer composite applications
to aerospace equipment, Composites manufacturing 5 (2) 8393.
[12] K. Potter, Advances in the resin injection process for the reliable
production of complex structural parts. In: Proceedings of the sixth
international conference, SAMPE European Chapter, 1985.
[13] H. Darcy, Les Fontaines publiques de la ville de Dijon, Delmont,
Paris, 1856.
[14] Carman P. Fluid flow through granular beds. Trans Int Chem Engng
1937;15:150166.