Development of resin transfer molding process using scaling down strategy

Abstract

The virtually developed resin transfer molding (RTM) manufacturing process for the large and complex composite part can be validated easily with the trial experiments on the scaled down mold. The scaling down strategy was developed using Darcy's law from the comparisons of mold fill time and mold fill pattern between full-scale product and scaled down prototype. From the analysis, it was found that the injection pressure used in the scaled down mold should be the full-scale injection pressure by the times of square of geometrical scale down factor, provided the identical injection strategy and raw material parameters were applied on both the scales. In this work, the RTM process was developed using process simulations for a large and complex high-speed train cab front and it was validated by conducting experiments using a geometrically scaled down mold. The injection pressure as per the scaling down strategy was imposed on the scale downed high-speed train cab front mold and a very close agreement was observed between the flow fronts of experimental and simulated results, which validates the scaling down strategy and the virtually developed RTM process for the full-scale product. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:1683–1689, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers