On‐line mixing during injection and simultaneous curing in liquid composite molding processes

Abstract Liquid composite molding (LCM) processes such as resin transfer molding (RTM) and vacuum assisted RTM (VARTM) are used to manufacture high quality and net‐shape fiber reinforced composite parts. All LCM processes impregnate fiber preforms packed in a mold cavity with a thermoset resin. After the preform is fully saturated, the injection is discontinued but the resin continues to cure. Once the curing step is complete, the part is de‐molded. The resin has to be mixed with a curing agent to cure. Typically, the resin and the curing agent are mixed together in a pressure pot before the injection. This has several disadvantages, such as storage of large amounts of hazardous polymerizing resin, wastage, and cleaning of cured resin from the injection line. This paper proposes the implementation and calibration of an alternative to this technique. The approach is to mix the curing agent with the resin as the resin enters the mold through a separate system featuring two feed‐lines. Such a system will enable one to maintain a uniform gel time throughout the part by varying the mixing ratio of resin and the catalyst during the injection. An experimental study of such on‐line mixing to obtain simultaneous curing and to reduce the overall curing time is conducted and presented in this paper. Implementation of a control scheme that varies the curing agent during injection and its effect on cure time is benchmarked with the process in which the percentage of curing agent is held constant. The gel time for the fabricated parts was reduced by 20–25% by continuously varying the percentage of curing agent during injection. POLYM. COMPOS., 26:74–83, 2005. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers