Final Year Project
Final Year Project
Final Year Project
January 2014
Fabrication methods
Autoclaves cure composites with heat and pressure and are important tools for
curing parts made with thermoset resins. Improvements in control software are
helping autoclave operators such as this one at Helicomb International (Tulsa,
Okla.) increase throughput by 35 to 40 percent. At the same time, new resin
formulations are being developed for out-of-autoclave cure processing. Source:
Helicomb InternationalThis jet engine fan containment case, built by North Coast
Composites (Cleveland, Ohio) for jet engine OEM Williams International, was
manufactured as a single piece from triaxially braided carbon fiber preforms,
using resin transfer molding (RTM). Source: Chris Red
In an open-mold sprayup application, the mold is first treated with mold release.
If a gel coat is used, it is typically sprayed into the mold after the mold release
has been applied. The gel coat then is cured and the mold is ready for fabrication
to begin. In the sprayup process, catalyzed resin (viscosity from 500 to 1,000
cps) and glass fiber are sprayed into the mold using a chopper gun, which chops
continuous fiber into short lengths, then blows the short fibers directly into the
sprayed resin stream so that both materials are applied simultaneously. To
reduce VOCs, piston pump-activated, non-atomizing spray guns and fluid
impingement spray heads dispense gel coats and resins in larger droplets at low
pressure. Another option is a roller impregnator, which pumps resin into a roller
similar to a paint roller.
In the final steps of the sprayup process, workers compact the laminate by hand
with rollers. Wood, foam or other core material may then be added, and a second
sprayup layer imbeds the core between the laminate skins. The part is then
cured, cooled and removed from the reusable mold.
Hand layup and sprayup methods are often used in tandem to reduce labor. For
example, fabric might first be placed in an area exposed to high stress; then, a
spray gun might be used to apply chopped glass and resin to build up the rest of
the laminate. Balsa or foam cores may be inserted between the laminate layers
in either process. Typical glass fiber volume is 15 percent with sprayup and 25
percent with hand layup.
Sprayup processing, once a very prevalent manufacturing method, has begun to
fall out of favor. Federal regulations in the U.S. and similar rules in the EU have
mandated limits on worker exposure to, and emission into the environment of
VOCs and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Styrene, the most common monomer
used as a diluent in thermoset resins, is on both lists. Because worker exposure
to and emission of styrene is difficult and expensive to control in the sprayup
process, many composites manufacturers have migrated to closed mold,
infusion-based processes, which better contain and manage styrenes.
Although open molding via hand layup is being replaced by faster and more
technically precise methods (as the following makes clear), it is still widely used
in the repair of composite parts. For more information about Composites repair
see the so-named article under "Editor's Picks."
Resin infusion processes
Ever-increasing demand for faster production rates has pressed the industry to
replace hand layup with alternative fabrication processes and has encouraged
fabricators to automate those processes wherever possible.
A common alternative is resin transfer molding (RTM), sometimes referred to as
liquid molding. RTM is a fairly simple process: It begins with a two-part, matched,
closed mold that is made of metal or composite material. Dry reinforcement
(typically a preform) is placed into the mold and the mold is closed. Resin and
catalyst are metered and mixed in dispensing equipment, then pumped into the
mold under low to moderate pressure through injection ports, following
predesigned paths through the preform. Extremely low-viscosity resin is used in
RTM applications for thick parts to permeate preforms quickly and evenly before
cure. Both mold and resin can be heated, as necessary, for particular
and labor costs, parts consolidation and improved part-to-part uniformity. Often,
the process is used to produce large thermoset parts with complex shapes.
Automated tape laying (ATL) is an even speedier automated process in which
prepreg tape, rather than single tows, is laid down continuously to form parts. It
is often used for parts with highly complex contours or angles. Tape layup is
versatile, allowing breaks in the process and easy direction changes, and it can
be adapted for both thermoset and thermoplastic materials. The head includes a
spool or spools of tape, a winder, winder guides, a compaction shoe, a position
sensor and a tape cutter or slitter. In either case, the head may be located on the
end of a multiaxis articulating robot that moves around the tool or mandrel to
which material is being applied, or the head may be located on a gantry
suspended above the tool. Alternatively, the tool or mandrel can be moved or
rotated to provide the head access to different sections of the tool. Tape or fiber
is applied to a tool in courses, which consist of one row of material of any length
at any angle. Multiple courses are usually applied together over an area or
pattern and are defined and controlled by machine-control software that is
programmed with numerical input derived from part design and analysis. Capital
expenditures for computer-driven, automated equipment can be significant.
Although ATL generally is faster than AFP and can place more material over
longer distances, AFP is better suited to shorter courses and can place material
more effectively over contoured surfaces. These technologies grew out of the
machine tool industry and have seen extensive use in the manufacture of the
fuselage, wingskin panels, wingbox, tail and other structures on the forthcoming
Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 XWB. ATL and AFP also are used
extensively to produce parts for the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet the V-22 Osprey
tiltrotor troop transport and a variety of other aircraft.
Centrifugal casting of pipe from 1 inch/25 mm to 14 inches/356 mm in diameter
is an alternative to filament winding for high-performance, corrosion-resistant
service. In cast pipe, 0/90 woven fiberglass provides both longitudinal and
hoop strength throughout the pipe wall and brings greater strength at equal wall
thickness compared to multiaxial fiberglass wound pipe. In the casting process,
epoxy or vinyl ester resin is injected into a 150G centrifugally spinning mold,
permeating the woven fabric wrapped around the molds interior surface. The
centrifugal force pushes the resin through the layers of fabric, creating a smooth
finish on the outside of the pipe, and excess resin pumped into the mold creates
a resin-rich, corrosion- and abrasion-resistant interior liner.
Fiber-reinforced thermoplastic components now can be produced by extrusion, as
well. Breakthrough material and process technology has been developed with
long-fiber glass-reinforced thermoplastic (ABS, PVC or polypropylene) composites
to provide profiles that offer a tough, low-cost alternative to wood, metal and
injection-molded plastic parts used in office furniture, appliances, semitrailers
and sporting goods. A huge market has emerged in the past decade for extruded
thermoplastic/wood flour (or other additives, such as bast fibers or fly ash)
composites. These wood plastic composites, or WPCs, used to simulate wood
decking, siding, window and door frames, and fencing.
Safety and environmental protection
Fabricators and OEMs must address health, safety and environmental concerns
when producing and handling composite materials. Their methods for
maintaining a safe workplace include periodic training, adherence to detailed
handling procedures, maintenance of current toxicity information, use of
protective equipment (gloves, aprons, dust-control systems and respirators) and
development of company-wide monitoring policies. Both suppliers and OEMs are
working to reduce emissions of highly volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by
reformulating resins and prepregs and switching to water-dispersible cleaning
agents.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has continued to strengthen its
requirements to meet the mandates of the Clean Air Act Amendments, passed by
Congress in 1990. Specifically, the agencys goal is to reduce the emission of
hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), a list of approximately 180 volatile chemicals
that are considered to pose health risks. Some of the compounds used in resins
and released during cure contain HAPs. In early 2003, the EPA enacted
regulations specifically for the composites industry, requiring emission controls
using maximum achievable control technology, or MACT. The regulations took
effect in early 2006.
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