Role of vacuum pressure and port locations on flow front control for liquid composite molding process

Abstract In this paper, the influence of air pressure gradients at the flow front, due to presence of two air vents under different vacuum pressures, is investigated for Liquid Composites Molding (LCM) Processes such as Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) and Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM). An analytical mode introduced to predict the pressure distribution. It is suggested that the air press variation along the flow front can be used to control the flow front progress during the injection molding processes. The parametric studies identify a simple relationship that captures the most important process physics, which in prat can be implemented for flow front control.