Effect of Resin Viscosity in Fiber Reinforcement Compaction in Resin Injection Pultrusion Process

Abstract

In resin injection pultrusion, the liquid resin is injected through the injection slots into the fiber reinforcement; the liquid resin penetrates through the fibers as well as pushes the fibers towards the centerplane causing fiber compaction. The compacted fibers are more difficult to penetrate, thus higher resin injection pressure becomes necessary to achieve complete reinforcement wetout. Lower injection pressures below a certain range (depending upon the fiber volume fraction and resin viscosity) cannot effectively penetrate through the fiber bed and thus cannot achieve complete wetout. Also, if the degree of compaction is very high the fibers might become essentially impenetrable. The more viscous the resin is, the harder it is to penetrate through the fibers and vice versa. The effect of resin viscosity on complete wetout achievement with reference to fiber-reinforcement compaction is presented in this study.