Abstract

Vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VaRTM) is becoming one of the most robust alternatives for autoclave processes. VaRTM, which applies the resin injection method in a vacuum environment, generally uses fiber reinforcement and a polymer matrix separately in the process. The VaRTM is mainly dominated by the characteristics of constituent materials, such as preform permeability and resin viscosity. Among them, process design with the arrangement of resin inlet/outlet locations is closely related to process defects, and inappropriate inlet/outlet layouts cause voids, etc, which has a decisive effect on quality degradation. Therefore, in this study, a highly curved and twisted spar structure was fabricated by the VaRTM, and both flow simulations using Programs for Applied Mechanics–Resin Transfer Molding software and experimental test parts built with three different inlet/outlet line conditions were performed and compared to predict and improve impregnation quality. There was good agreement between the simulation and built test specimen for the three cases that the shorter inlet and outlet length resulted in improved impregnation quality. It was verified that impregnation and inner quality could be improved through flow simulation analysis during the VaRTM process.

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