• Composites Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.35-43
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• 2005

In resin transfer molding(RTM), race-track effects and non-uniform fiber volume fraction may cause undesirable resin flow patterns and thus result in dry spots, which affect the mechanical properties of the finished parts. In this study, a real time RTM control strategy to reduce these unfavorable effects is proposed. This control rule is accomplished by means of the permeability mapping and pressure regulation. Through numerical simulations, the validity of the proposed scheme is demonstrated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.65-67
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• 2002

Resin Transfer Molding(RTM) is increasingly used for producing fiber reinforced polymer composites, the resin has to flow a long distance to impregnate the dry fibers. The measure for the resistance of the fiber preform to the resin flow is the permeability of the fiber preform. Permeability is a key issue in the design of molds and processes and in flow modeling. In this study, permeability measurement for braided preform is presented and compared with the permeability calculated numerically. Experimental techniques being used to measure the permeability are also discussed. Measurement is conducted in radial flow test under constant pressure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.111-116
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• 2005

In this study the compatibility of Epoxy resin with Phenolic using three different separation layer techniques was investigated; some important process variables such as pressure, flow front and deformation were monitored in order to get a better understanding of the process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.176-179
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• 2001

When the preform is composed of more than two layers with different in-plane permeability in resin transfer molding, effective average permeability should be determined for the flow analysis in the mold. The most frequently used averaging scheme is the weighted average scheme, but it does not account for the transverse flow between adjacent layers. A new averaging scheme is proposed predicting the effective permeability of the multi-layered preform, which accounts for the transverse flow effect. The new scheme is verified by measuring the effective permeability of the multi-layered preforms and the difference in each flow front position.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.135-144
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• 2003

Permeability of the preform is one of key factors in design of RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) mold, determination of processing conditions, and modeling of flow in the mold. According to previous studies, permeability measured in the unsaturated fiber mats are higher than that in the saturated fiber mats by about 20% because of the capillary pressure. In this study, permeabilities of several fiber preforms are measured for both saturated and unsaturated flows. A saturated experiment of radial flow has been adopted to measure the permeability of anisotropic fiber preforms with high fiber content, i.e., circular braided preforms. In this method, four pressure transducers are used to measure the pressure distribution. Permeabilities in different directions are determined and the experimental results show a good agreement with the theory. Since permeability is affected by the capillary effect, permeability should be measured in the unsaturated condition for the textile composites to be manufactured under lower pressure as in the Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM).

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.189-192
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• 2001

Resin transfer molding process has been widely used in the automobile industry, because the product with large area can be manufactured easily and the cost for the manufacturing is lower than that of compression molding and hand lay up method. Since RTM process is suitable for large bus housing panels, in this work, the composite housing panel was manufactured by RTM process and the mechanical properties, surface quality and the condition of manufacturing process were studied.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.489-494
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• 2004

Long Period Gratings (LPG) is currently receiving considerable attention because of their consistent measuring results fur pressure, temperature, strain and flow. LPG is easier to prepare and has a high sensitivity compared with Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG). In addition, this kind of optical fiber sensors could be used for implementations in various structures. In this paper, LPG was used to monitor in situ the resin flow and the curing process in VARTM (Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer. Molding). In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, FBG is inserted into the glass mat to monitor the resin flow using optical spectrum analyzer (OSA). The curing reactions in VARTM are also observed using the same method. From the results, the attenuation wavelength shift and the loss change of attenuation band can be obtained from the status of the RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) sample owing to the internal variations of the .effective index, temperature, and pressure. It is shown that the proposed LPG is more effective in monitoring the curing reaction than FBG.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.87-90
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• 2003

In Resin transfer molding (RTM), composite parts are produced by impregnation of a dry reinforcement with liquid matrix resin. Permeability is a key issue in this process. For thin parts, the resin flow in the thickness direction can be neglected. Therefore thin parts are considered as two-dimensional composites. However the resin flow through the thickness is important to thicker parts and we have to consider out-of-plane permeability. This work discusses a method to measure out-of-plane permeability. The flow rate and pressure drop across the porous media were measured. Also one dimensional form of Darcy's law is applied to calculate the out-of-plane permeability of various preforms. The flow is injected uniformly into layers of the preform. And a circular fiber mat with 6cm diameter was cut and flattened from cylindrical mandrel.

• Composites Research
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.10-15
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• 2005

It is useful to detect defects of a preform for resin transfer molding before and after placement into the mold. To conduct this test, the gas flow method has been developed. This method not only measures permeability but also detects defects utilizing the pressure readings obtained from the gas flow test. This paper introduces the methodology and examine the applicability to actual processes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.83-86
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• 2003

Complete prediction of second order permeability tensor for three dimensional preform such as plain woven fabric and braided preform is critical to understand the resin transfer molding process of composites. The permeability can be obtained by various methods such as analytic, numerical, and experimental methods. For several decades, the permeability has studied numerically to avoid practical difficulty of many experiments. However, the predicted permeabilities are a bit wrong compared with experimentally measured data. In this study, numerical calculation of permeability was conducted for two kinds of preforms i.e., plain woven fabric and circular braided preform. In order to consider intra-tow flow in the unit cell of preform the proposed flow coupled model was used for plain woven fabric and the Brinkman equation was solved in the case of the braided preform.