Abstract
This paper presents a theoretical study of the impregnation of continuous fiber or cloth with thermosetting resin matrix materials. A model is developed to describe the resin, the volatile content and the coated resin thickness as functions of impregnation velocity for a solvent-type, vertical impregnating process. A power law is employed to account for the effect of shear rate on the resin velocity in the model. Results are obtained methodically through the separation of variables. A dimensionless number, called the impregnation number, is derived which expresses the relative importance among the viscous, inertial and gravity forces in the impregnation process. It is found that the dimensionless number is important in characterizing the maximum possible resin content for a given condition, and that an increase in the resin viscosity is much more effective than an increase in the impregnation velocity in achieving higher resin content. The volatile content is controlled by a combination of the impregnation velocity and the oven length. The predicted volatile contents agree well with the experimental results for a 177°C prepreg. The model is valid for predicting volatile content in the practical impregnation process.
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