• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2005.05b
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• pp.293-296
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• 2005

The tensile properties of GFRP(glass fiber reinforced polymer) rods with various surface deformation produced by RTM(resin transfer molding) process were analyzes experimentally. Two types of GFRP rods with different surface deformation manufactured by RTM process in domestic area and two types of GFRP rods imported were considered in this study. All testing procedures including specimens preparation, set-up of test equipments and measuring devices were made according to the ASTM D3916-02 recommendations. From the test results, it was found that wave-type GFRP rod made by RTM process showed the highest tensile strength due to the highest fiber volume ratio.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2005.05b
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• pp.297-300
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• 2005

The bond characteristics of GFRP(glass fiber reinforced polymer) rods with various surface deformation produced by RTM(resin transfer molding) process were analyzes experimentally. Two types of GFRP rods with different surface deformation manufactured by RTM process in domestic area and two types of GFRP rebars imported were considered in this study. All testing procedures including specimens preparation, set-up of test equipments and measuring devices were made according to the CSA S806-02 recommendations. From the test results, it was found that deformed-type GFRP rod manufactured by RTM process showed the highest bond strength among test specimen. But, wave-type GFRP rod made by RTM process show the lowest value due to the splitting failure of concrete caused by the wedge action of waved surfaces on GFRP rods.

• The Korean Journal of Rheology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.34-43
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• 1999

Flow-induced voids during resin impregnation and poor fiber wetting have known to be highly detrimental to the performance of composite parts manufactured by resin transfer molding(RTM) process. In this study, in order to overcome these serious problems encountered in RTM, the effects of surface modification by using silane coupling agent as a surface modifier on the flow characteristics, the wetting between resin and fiber, and void content were investigated. For the experiments of microscopic flow visualization and curing in a beam mold, glass fiber mats having plain weaving structure and epoxy resin were used. Modifying the fiber surface was found to result in a significant decrease of dynamic contact angle between resin and fiber and increase of wicking rate. Therefore, it was confirmed that the surface modification employed in this study could improve the wettability of reinforcing fibers as well as micro flow behavior. In addition, It was revealed that high temperature and low penetration rate of the resin are more favorable processing conditions to reduce the dynamic contact angle. However, surface modified fiber mat was found to have lower permeability than the unmodified one, which may be explained in terms of the decrease of contact time between resin and fiber owing to improvement of wetting. It was also exhibited that surface modification had a significant influence on void formation in RTM process, resulting in a decrease of overall void content due to the improvement of wetting in cured composite parts.

• The Korean Journal of Rheology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.185-194
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• 1998

Flow-induced voids during resin impregnation and poor fiber wetting give serious effects on the mechanical properties of composites in resin transfer molding process. In order to better understand the characteristics of resin flow and to investigate the mechanism of void formation, flow visualization experiment for the resin impregnation was carried out on plain weaving glass fiber mats using silicon oils with various viscosity values. The permeability and the capillary pressure for the fiber mats of different porosities were obtained by measuring the penetration length of the resin with time and with various injection pressure. At low porosity and low operating pressure, the capillary pressure played a significant role in impregnation process. Video-assisted microscopy was used in taking the magnified photograph of the flow front of the resin to investigate the effect of the capillary pressure on the void formation. The results showed that the voids were formed easily when the capillary pressure was relatively high. No voids were detected above the critical capillary number of 2.75$\times$$10^{-3}, and below the critical number the void content increased exponentially with decrease of the capillary number. The content of void formed was independent of the viscosity of the resin. For a given capillary number, the void content reduced with the lower porosity of the fiber mat.

• Composites Research
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.34-38
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• 2011

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely investigated as reinforcements of CNT/polymer nanocomposites to enhance mechanical and electrical properties of polymer matrices since their discovery in the early 90's. Furthermore, the number of studies about incorporating CNTs into carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) to reinforce their polymer matrices is increasing recently. In this study, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) were dispersed in epoxy with 0.2 wt.% and 0.5 wt.%. Then, the SWNT/epoxy mixtures were processed to carbon fiber composites by a vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) and a wet lay up method. The processed composite samples were tested for the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS). The relationship between the interlaminar shear strengths and processing, and the reinforcement mechanism of carbon nanotubes were investigated. CNT/epoxy nanocomposite specimens showed the increased tensile properties. However, the ILSS of carbon fiber composites was not enhanced by reinforcing the matrix with CNTs because of processing issues caused by increased viscosity of the matrix due to addition of CNTs particularly for a VARTM method.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.277-299
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• 2008

High quality and expedient processing repair methods are necessary to enhance the service life of bridge structures. Deterioration of concrete can occur as a result of structural cracks, corrosion of reinforcement, and freeze.thaw cycles. Cost effective methods with potential for field implementation are necessary to address the issue of the vulnerability of bridge structures and how to repair them. Most infrastructure related applications of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs) use traditional hand lay-up technology. The hand lay-up is tedious, labor-intensive and relies upon personnel skill level. An alternative to traditional hand lay-up of FRP for infrastructure applications is Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM). VARTM uses single sided molding technology to infuse resin over fabrics wrapping large structures, such as bridge girders and columns. There is no work currently available in understanding the interface developed, when VARTM processing is adopted to wrap fibers such as carbon and/or glass over concrete structures. This paper investigates the interface formed by carbon fiber processed on to a concrete surface using the VARTM technique. Various surface treatments, including sandblasting, were performed to study the pull-off tensile test to find a potential prepared surface. A single-lap shear test was used to study the bond strength of CFRP fabric/epoxy composite adhered to concrete. Carbon fiber wraps incorporating Sikadur HEX 103C and low viscosity epoxy resin Sikadur 300 were considered in VARTM processing of concrete specimens.

• Journal of the korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.96-120
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• 1996

현재 자동차용 복합재료를 생산하는데 유리한 제조방법으로는 압축성형 (Compression Molding), 액상성형(Liquid Molding), 인발성형(Pultrusion), 필라멘트 와인딩성형(Filament Winding)등이 있다. 압축성형은 현재 자동차 외장부품 성형에 널리 알려져 있는 SMC(Sheet Molding Compound)성형, 최근에 많은 연구가 되고 있는 LMPC(Low Pressure Molding Compound)성형, GMT(Glass Mat Reinforced Thermoplastics)성형 등이 있다. 액상성형은 RTM(Resin Transfer Molding)과 VARI (Vacuum Assisted Injection Molding), SRIM(Structure Reaction Injection Molding) 등이 있으며, 자동차 산업뿐만 아니라 일반 산업에서도 최근 많은 각광을 받고 있다. 그러므로 본 소고에서는 자동차용 복합재료의 제조에 널리 사용되는 성형공정에 대하여 간단히 살펴보고, 자동차 부품에 있어서의 복합재료 응용 현장과 최근 환경문제가 대두되면서 관심의 초점이 되고 있는 자동차용 복합재료 재활용 기술에 대하여 고찰하고자 한다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.184-187
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• 2003

Complete prediction of second order permeability tensor for three dimensional circular braided preform is critical to understand the resin transfer molding process of composites. The permeability can be predicted by considering resin flow through the multi-axial fiber structure. In this study, permeability tensor for a 3-D circular braided preform is calculated by solving a boundary problem of a periodic unit cell. Flow field through the unit cell is obtained by using a 3-D finite volume method (FVM) and Darcy's law is utilized to obtain permeability tensor. Flow analysis for two cases that a fiber tow is regarded as impermeable solid and permeable porous medium is carried out respectively. It is found that the flow within the intra-tow region of the braided preform is negligible if inter-tow porosity is relatively high but the flow through the tow must be considered when the porosity is low. To avoid checkerboard pressure field and improve the efficiency of numerical computation, a new interpolation function for velocity variation is proposed on the basis of analytic solutions. Permeability of the braided preform is measured through a radial flow experiment and compared with the permeability predicted numerically.

• Composites Research
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.291-296
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• 2015

In this study, structural design and analysis of the automobile bonnet is performed. The flax/vinly ester composite material is applied for structural design. The Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding-Light (VARTML) manufacturing method is adopted for manufacturing the flax fiber composite bonnet. The VARTML is a manufacturing process that the resin is injected into the fly layered-up fibers enclosed by a rigid mold tool under vacuum. A series of flax/vinyl ester composite panels are manufactured, and several kinds of specimens cut out from the panels are tested to obtain mechanical performance data. Based on this, structural design of the automobile bonnet is performed.

• Composites Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.46-51
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• 2015

In this study, structural design and analysis of the automobile bonnet is performed. The flax/vinly ester composite material is applied for structural design. The Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding-Light (VARTML) manufacturing method is adopted for manufacturing the flax fiber composite bonnet. The VARTML is a manufacturing process that the resin is injected into the fly layered-up fibers enclosed by a rigid mold tool under vacuum. A series of flax/vinyl ester composite panels are manufactured, and several kinds of specimens cut out from the panels are tested to obtain mechanical performance data. Based on this, structural design of the automobile bonnet is performed.