Tow Deformation Behaviors in Resin-Impregnated Glass Fibers under Different Flow Rates

With the rapid development of high-performance fibers such as carbon, enhanced glass fibers in structural applications, the use of fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) materials has also increased in many areas. Liquid composite molding (LCM) is a widely used manufacturing process in composite manufacturing; however, the rapid impregnation of resin in the reinforcing fibers during processing poses a significant issue. The optimization of resin impregnation is related to tow deformations in the reinforcing fibers. The present study therefore focuses on this tow deformation. The permeability behaviors in double-scale porous media were observed under different flow rates and viscosity conditions to examine the overall tendencies of structural changes in the reinforcement. The permeability results showed hysteresis with increasing and decreasing flow rate conditions of 50–800 mm3/s, indicating structural changes in the reinforcement. The tow behaviors of the double-scale porous media with respect to the thickness and flow rate were investigated in terms of the representative indices of the minor axis (tow thickness) and major axis. The minor axis and major axis of the tow showed decreasing and increasing trends of 2–5% and 2%, respectively, with minimum and maximum values at different positions along the reinforcement, affected by the different hydrodynamic entry lengths. Finally, the deformed tow behavior was observed microscopically to examine the behavior of the tow at different flow rates.