Vacuum-Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) processes are becoming promising technologies in the manufacturing of primary composite structures in the aircraft industry as well as infrastructure. A great deal of work still needs to be done on efforts to reduce the costly trial-and-error methods of VARTM processing that are currently in practice today. A computer simulation model of the VARTM process would provide a cost-effective tool in the manufacturing of composites utilizing this technique. Therefore, the objective of this research was to modify an existing three-dimensional, Resin Film Infusion (RFI)/Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) model to include VARTM simulation capabilities and to verify this model with the fabrication of aircraft structural composites. An additional objective was to use the VARTM model as a process analysis tool, where this tool would enable the user to configure the best process for manufacturing quality composites. Experimental verification of the model was performed by processing several flat composite panels. The parameters verified included flow front patterns and infiltration times. The flow front patterns were determined to be qualitatively accurate, while the simulated infiltration times over predicted experimental times by 8 to 10%. Capillary and gravitational forces were incorporated into the existing RFI/RTM model in order to simulate VARTM processing physics more accurately. The theoretical capillary pressure showed the capability to reduce the simulated infiltration times by as great as 6%. The gravity, on the other hand, was found to be negligible for all cases. Finally, the VARTM model was used as a process analysis tool. This enabled the user to determine such important process constraints as the location and type of injection ports and the permeability and location of the high-permeable media. A process for a three-stiffener composite panel was proposed. This configuration evolved from the variation of the process constraints in the modeling of several different composite panels. The configuration was proposed by considering such factors as: infiltration time, the number of vacuum ports, and possible areas of void entrapment. / Ph. D.

Vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) is a low cost resin infusion process being developed for the manufacture of composite structures. VARTM is being evaluated for the manufacture of primary aircraft structures, including foam sandwich composite materials. One of the benefits of VARTM is the ability to resin infiltrate large or complex shaped components. However, trial and error process development of these types of composite structures can prove costly and ineffective. Therefore, process modeling of the associated flow details and infiltration times can aide in manufacturing design and optimization. The purpose of this research was to develop a process using VARTM to resin infiltrate stitched and unstitched dry carbon fiber preforms with polymethacrylimide foam cores to produce composite sandwich structures. The infiltration process was then used to experimentally verify a three-dimensional finite element model for VARTM injection of stitched sandwich structures. Using the processes developed for the resin infiltration of stitched foam core preforms, visualization experiments were performed to verify the finite element model. The flow front progression as a function of time and the total infiltration time were recorded and compared with model predictions. Four preform configurations were examined in which foam thickness and stitch row spacing were varied. For the preform with 12.7 mm thick foam core and 12.7 mm stitch row spacing, model prediction and experimental data agreed within 5%. The 12.7 mm thick foam core preform with 6.35 mm row spacing experimental and model predicted data agreed within 8%. However, for the 12.7 mm thick foam core preform with 25.4 mm row spacing, the model overpredicted infiltration times by more 20%. The final case was the 25.4 mm thick foam core preform with 12.7 mm row spacing. In this case, the model overpredicted infiltration times by more than 50%. This indicates that the model did not accurately describe flow through the needle perforations in the foam core and could be addressed by changing the mesh elements connecting the two face sheets. / Master of Science

The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the properties of two layer carbon epoxy composite plates manufactured using various resin impregnation techniques / Resin Transfer Molding (RTM), Light RTM (LRTM), Vacuum Assisted RTM (VARTM) and Vacuum Packaging (VP). Throughout the study a different packaging method was developed and named Modified Vacuum Packaging (BP). The mechanical properties of composite plates manufactured are examined by tensile tests, compressive tests, in-plane shear tests and their thermal properties are examined by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) tests. All tests were performed according to suitable ASTM standards. The performance of specimens from each process was observed to vary according to the investigated property / however the VP process showed the highest performance for most properties. For most of the tests, VARTM, LRTM and RTM methods were following VP process in terms of performance, having close results with each other.

Tillämpningen av fiberförstärkt polymerkomposit har senaste decenniet ökat kraftigt inom flertalet högteknologiska branscher. Trots framgången är förekomsten av tillverkningsinducerade avvikelser fortfarande en utmaning. Avvikelserna försämrar materialets mekaniska egenskaper och förkortar dess livslängd, vilket orsakar kassationer, miljöbelastningar och försvårad produktetablering för industriaktörer. ABB Composites i Piteå står inför en liknande situation. Företaget producerar cylindriska isolatorer i fiberförstärkt komposit till högspänningsindustrin, och behöver utreda förekomsten av en specifik avvikelse, som under senaste tre åren medfört omfattande kvalitetsbristkostnader. Produkten tillverkas genom vakuuminjicering där en hartsblandning impregnerar en glasfiberform, för att sedan övergå från flytande till fast form genom en exoterm reaktion. Hartsblandningens reaktionsförlopp har länge misstänkts påverka avvikelsernas förekomst, men har inte bekräftats, på grund av flera svårkontrollerade egenskaper. Examensarbetets syfte har därför varit att utreda om hartsblandningens egenskaper påverkar förekomsten av tillverkningsinducerade avvikelser vid tillverkning av cylindriska isolatorer. Arbetet har bedrivits som ett Sex Sigma-projekt enligt problemlösningsmetodiken DMAIC. Ett blandningsexperiment med sex komponenter genomfördes i laborationsmiljö där en datagenererad design med 36 delförsök tillämpades, varav sex stycken egenskaper hos hartsblandningen undersöktes. Experimentet påvisade att samtliga egenskaper var möjliga att styra genom att förändra proportionerna av ingredienserna. Däremot visade sig flera av egenskaperna vara korrelerade och kan därav inte justeras oberoende av varandra. Kunskapen användes till att utveckla och testa två nya varianter av hartsblandningen vid tillverkning av cylindriska isolatorer. Resultatet bekräftade att hartsblandningens egenskaper signifikant påverkar förekomsten av tillverkningsinducerade avvikelser. En viss kombination av egenskaperna som kännetecknade ett långsamt reaktionsförlopp minskade förekomsten av avvikelser på isolatorerna med 99.3 procent i jämförelse med den ordinarie hartsblandningen. Förbättringen förväntas medföra betydelsefulla besparingar, ökad konkurrenskraft och förhöjd kvalitetsmedvetenhet för ABB Composites. Examensarbetets kunskapsbidrag anses också betydelsefullt för kompositindustrin i strävan mot fortsatt reducering av tillverkningsinducerade avvikelser. / The application of fibre-reinforced polymer composites (FRPC) have during the last decades increased in many high-tech industries. Despite the success, the existence of manufacturing-induced deviations has been a long-standing challenge. These deviations affect the lifetime and the mechanical properties of the composite, which in turn lead to scrap of products and environmental impact, obstructing market exploitation for industry stakeholders. ABB Composites in Piteå is facing a similar scenario. The company produces cylindrical insulators in fibre-reinforced composite for the high-voltage industry and need to investigate a specific deviation, which has caused extensive costs during the last three years. The product is manufactured through vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), where a resin blend impregnates a fibreglass preform, as the resin cures and transforms from liquid to solid form through an exothermic reaction. One suspected cause for the deviation has been the curing process of the resin. However, it is dependent on several difficult-to-control characteristics and is yet to be confirmed. The purpose of this thesis has therefore been to investigate whether the characteristics of the resin blend affects the occurrence of manufacturing-induced deviations while producing cylindrical insulators. The work has been conducted as an internal Six Sigma-project following the DMAIC improvement cycle. A mixture experiment with six components was performed, using a computer-generated design with 36 runs, in which six characteristics of the resin blend were examined. The experiment proved that all characteristics could be controlled by changing the proportions of the design factors. However, many of the characteristics were correlated, implying that the characteristics cannot be independently controlled. The knowledge from the experiment were used to develop two new resin blends, which were infused to cylindrical insulators in regular production environment. The result confirmed that the characteristics of the resin blend significantly affects the quality of the insulator. One of the blends, which represented a slower curing process, reduced the deviations by 99.3 percent in relation to the original blend. The improvement is expected to generate substantial savings, increased competitiveness and enhanced quality awareness for ABB Composites. Possible contributions to the industry are related to the development of a method to experimentally investigate the resin blend with the objective of reducing manufacturing-induced deviations.

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