Abstract
The resin flow behavior in the vacuum assisted resin infusion molding process (VARI) of foam sandwich composites was studied by both visualization flow experiments and computer simulation. Both experimental and simulation results show that: the distribution medium (DM) leads to a shorter molding filling time in grooved foam sandwich composites via the VARI process, and the mold filling time is linearly reduced with the increase of the ratio of DM/Preform. Patterns of the resin sources have a significant influence on the resin filling time. The filling time of center source is shorter than that of edge pattern. Point pattern results in longer filling time than of linear source. Short edge/center patterns need a longer time to fill the mould compared with Long edge/center sources.
Highlights
Sandwich composites consist of two thin faces with high stiffness and high strength, and a core with low density and low stiffness
The main objective of this paper is to study the flow behavior of the resin system via the vacuum assisted resin infusion molding process (VARI)
distribution medium (DM) is a porous material of high permeability, and is usually laid on the surface of preform to improve the resin flowing speed and shorten the resin filling time [17]
Summary
Sandwich composites consist of two thin faces with high stiffness and high strength, and a core with low density and low stiffness. Materials 2012, 5 designability, light weight, high specific bending stiffness, strength, and good acoustical insulation etc. They are widely used in many applications such as buildings, aerospace systems, ship hulls and transportation [2,3]. Their application is hindered by the high cost of the manufacturing process such as Resin Transfer Molding (RTM). VARI has been developed over the last decade and has clear advantages over the traditional RTM process since it eliminates the costs associated with matched metal tooling, reduces volatiles emission and allows the use of lower resin injection pressures [4,5,6,7]. Curing of the impregnated preform is at the post-filling stage [8,9]
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