• Composites Research
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.254-259
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• 2014

In this study, a device and pressure press process that is able to substitute autoclave process is developed. This process complements disadvantages of autoclave process which are long process-time and high production cost. The developed device provides air pressure as well as the vacuum which are greatest feature of autoclave process. The device is sealed using hydraulic pressure to keep the air pressure inside the mold. The transfer of the heat is designed to be direct. The heating and pressure charging time are decreased by reducing the interior space. Tooling cost is reduced dramatically compared to autoclave process. Spring-back phenomenon is measured and compared. The temperatures of several parts of the mold during molding are measured. The fiber volume fraction of the parts molded by autoclave process and by the developed process are compared.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.315-320
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• 2016

Conventionally, composite aircraft structures are fabricated within autoclave at high pressure. However, autoclave process has several disadvantages including high curing costs and limitation of part size. Recently, out-of-autoclave (OoA) processes have been investigated in many studies to replace conventional autoclave process. A newly developed OoA prepreg, using conventional ovens, can significantly reduce the curing costs and produce autoclave-quality parts. Nevertheless, manufacture of void-free complex shape structure using OoA process presents significant challenges because of the low consolidation pressure. In this study, integrated skin-spar-rib composite part was fabricated using OoA prepreg. And cross-sectional macro- and micro-graphs of the part were examined in order to assess the possibility of replacing conventional autoclave process.

• Composites Research
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.304-310
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• 2018

Autoclave process has been remaining as one of the most robust and stable process in fabricating structural composite part of aerospace industry. It has lots of advantages, however exhibits some disadvantages or limitations in capital investment and operation. Recently, there have been various Out-of-Autoclave process being researched and developed to overcome those limitations. In this study, laminate specimens were fabricated using LCM (Liquid Composite Molding) process, regarded as one of potential OoA process. DB (Double bagging), CAPRI (Controlled Atmospheric Pressure Resin Infusion), VAP (Vacuum Assisted Process) and Autoclave process were used for laminate specimens. Void content, Thickness, Tg (Glass Transition Temperature), ILSS (Interlaminar Shear Strength) and Flexural strength properties were evaluated for comparison. It is verified that Autoclave based specimen has uniform thickness distribution, the lowest void content and outstanding mechanical properties. And, CAPRI based specimen exhibits relatively good physical and mechanical properties over DB and VAP based specimen and comparable mechanical properties with autoclave based specimen.

• Composites Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.76-80
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• 2020

In this study, vacuum bag hot-press (V-HP) process can be used as an out-of-autoclave (OOA) process by improving the inefficient process of the autoclave forming method with excellent physical properties and surface quality. A carbon fiber composite was molded via V-HP process and analyzed the physical properties and microstructures between composites manufactured by autoclave (AC) process and hot-press process (HP). The tensile strength of the composite materials using the V-HP process was 320.6 MPa and the AC process samples found to be substantially close to the tensile strength of 335.3 MPa. As a result of confirming the surface quality of the composite material using SEM, it was confirmed that in the V-HP process, the removal state of pores due to volatile solvent in the resin was slightly lower than that of the AC process, but it had a considerably superior surface compared to the HP process.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 1998

The determination method of successful operation conditions to control the temperature and pressure in autoclave after non-taping vulcanization process was represented. Heat and mass balances were constructed to predict the mass flow rates of air, steam, and condensed water into or from autoclave when the temperature and pressure in the autoclave were to be controlled in the desired profiles. The balance equations were solved by appropriate mathematics, and the solution was applied to an autoclave system where the temperature and pressure were linearly decreased. The resulting solutions were illustrated in graphs.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2023

Liquid Composite Molding (LCM), an Out of Autoclave (OoA) composite manufacturing process, has big advantages when making large and complex structures of airplanes. Since the importance of LCM process is increasing, FAA has suggested recommended guidance and criteria for the development of material and process specifications for LCM materials and process. The importance of LCM process is also raised by domestic composite material suppliers and OEM. This study suggested structures of material specifications and process specification of LCM materials. Material qualification method for LCM process and material was also developed in this study.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.523-528
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• 2012

A bendable electronic module is developed for a mobile application by using a low-cost roll-to-roll manufacturing process. In the module, a thin silicon chip is embedded in a polymer-based encapsulating adhesive between flexible copper clad polyimide layers. A set of tests are conducted for the purpose of qualification: thermal shock, high temperature storage, and autoclave tests. During the autoclave test, delamination occurs at many places within the module layers. To investigate the failure mechanism, moisture diffusion analysis is conducted for the interior of the module under the autoclave test condition. For the analysis, the hygroscopic characteristics of the encapsulating materials are experimentally determined. Analysis results indicate the moisture saturation process in the interior of the module under the autoclave test condition.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.88-95
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• 2021

VARTM (Vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding) process is a low-cost process technology and affiliated with OoA (Out of Autoclave). Besides, it has been widely used in various fields. However, because of its lower quality than the autoclave process, it isn't easy to apply the VARTM process to the aerospace industry, which requires high reliability. The main problem of the VARTM process is the loss of mechanical properties due to the low fiber volume fraction and high void content in comparison to the autoclave. Therefore, many researchers have studied to reduce void and increase fiber volume fraction. This study examines whether the method of controlling atmospheric pressure could increase the fiber volume fraction and reduce void during the resin impregnation process. Reliability evaluation was confirmed by compressive strength test, fiber volume fraction analysis, and optical microscopy. As a result, it was confirmed that increasing the atmospheric pressure step by step in the VARTM process of impregnating the preform with resin effectively increases the fiber volume fraction and reduces void.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.189-192
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• 2002

The autoclave process is frequently utilized in the manufacturing of aircraft parts because of the low void content and high fiber volume fraction. However, due to the slow curing process (5∼8 hours per part) and it's limited producibility for complicated shape, this process is very expensive and applied to the relatively simple geometry structures. RTM is considered as an alternative process to overcome the limitation of autoclave process. In this study, the idea of RTM application on the secondary Fairing structure of aircraft has been proved to be technically feasible and very cost effective by changing the multiple part of subassembly into one integral composite structure.

• Composites Research
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.302-308
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• 2020

We measured the thermal conductivity of composite materials manufactured by the autoclave and vacuum bag only processes and predicted the cure behavior of the external and internal of composite parts with a cure kinetics model. The temperature difference between the external and internal depends on the processes because of the change of thermal conductivity. In the autoclave process, the temperature and cure behavior of the internal were similar to those of the external because of the high thermal conductivity. However, the temperature of the internal of the vacuum bag only process was different from that of the external. The difference can influence the part quality and evacuation of air. Compression tests were performed to find the mechanical property using 0° unidirectional specimens. The composite of the vacuum bag only process was found to have a lower compressive strength than that of the autoclave process.