Transcript Title

Contact moulding: spray and
hand lamination techniques
John Summerscales
Outline of lecture
• Spray techniques
• Hand lamination
• Vacuum bagging
Spray techniques
Image from the Gurit Guide to Composites
Spray techniques
• hand-held ‘gun’ feeds a stream of chopped
fibres into a spray of catalysed liquid resin.
• stream projected onto the mould tool.
• deposited materials left to cure under
standard atmospheric conditions.
• fibres normally settle onto the tool in a
random (quasi-planar) orientation
• composite mechanical properties limited by
discontinuous fibres (ηl <1),
o random fibre orientation (ηo =3/8), and
o no significant consolidation pressure (low Vf).
o
Spray techniques: equipment
• pump
generally air-operated positive displacement type
o catalyst pumps may be piston or peristaltic
o
• chopper
o
cott wheel moves the fibres through the chopper
against the cutter wheel with embedded blades
• spray head assembly (gun)
o
integrates the chopper and resin mixing.
Spray techniques: mixing
• common forms of mixing are:
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external mixing: typically 4 air-driven nozzles in a
square pattern around the chopper with two nozzles
dispensing resin and two nozzles dispensing catalyst.
airless external mixing: catalyst and resin fed
from pressure pots with mixing by stream impingement.
air-driven internal mixing: air, catalyst and
resin are mixed within the head before ejection.
airless internal mixing: high pressure mixed in
head
two-pot system: high pressure resin and catalyst
streams arranged to impinge around 150 mm ahead of
the gun
Spray techniques:
health & safety
• traditionally a stream of fine droplets
so significant vapourisation of styrene
• CFA “Controlled Spraying” to reduce vapour
spray gun pressure calibration
o overspray containment flanges
o operator training
o
• potential for automation by robots
Spray techniques: advantages
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low equipment and tooling costs.
inexpensive materials
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cheapest form of fibre is continuous roving
fast deposition rates.
low labour costs (re. hand-lamination).
versatile part shape/laminate configuration,
including thickness variations.
potential for automation with robots.
Spray techniques: disadvantages
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H&S for volatile organic compounds (VOC).
cost of extraction and treatment of VOC.
low production rates when hand-controlled.
quality is dependent on operator expertise.
difficult to avoid trapped air in the part.
dimensional inconsistency in/between batches.
only one moulded surface.
limited physical properties
waste, especially when overspray is significant
Centrifugal casting
• normally a cylindrical mould
rotating with the axis of symmetry horizontal
• two modes:
short fibre spray head travels on that axis
o fabric reinforcement laid dry and resin sprayed
o
good external surface
 can easily produce resin-rich inner surface

Hand lamination
Hand lamination
• fibres placed on mould and wetted by resin.
• fibres may be of any material
aramid, carbon or especially glass
o chopped strand mat, woven-, knitted-, stitchedor bonded-fabrics, singly or in combination.
o
• brushes used to distribute the resin
stippling is used to wet chopped strand mat
o brushing is used for fabric reinforcements
o
• rollers used to work air bubbles out.
Hand lamination
• lay-up should be continuous
no break of >24 hours for polyester resin.
o extended breaks may necessitate cleaning
and/or roughening the surface before continuing.
o for epoxy resins, use of a layer of peel-ply:
o
additional benefit of removing any resin by-product
that may have formed at the surface through reaction
with the air.
 peel-ply is removed from the surface just prior to
restarting lamination and leaves a clean textured
surface.

Hand lamination: advantages I
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accumulated experience over many years
standardised training exists
e.g. City and Guilds Hand Laminators Certificate
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short lead times for component production
minimal equipment and tooling costs.
relatively inexpensive materials.
wide choice of suppliers and material types.
versatility of part shape, size and laminate
configuration.
Hand lamination: advantages II
• design changes can be easily effected.
• cost-competitive for individual items and
short production runs of complicated shape.
• higher fibre volume fractions than for spray.
• scope for a wide range of physical and
mechanical properties in the laminate
• resin-rich composites can produce highquality corrosion resistant components.
• sandwich construction (foam or balsa-wood
cores) and inserts are readily incorporated.
Hand lamination: disadvantages I
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H&S legislation/regulation/voluntary codes
cost of extraction and treatment of VOCs.
high labour content.
product quality and variability
dependent on operator expertise
potential for resin mixing errors.
dimensional inconsistency.
low production rates due to cure times of
room temperature resins.
HLU: disadvantages II
• low viscosity resins (low molecular weight)
volatile.
o low thermal and mechanical properties.
o
• high shrinkage and potential exotherm
o
especially in resin rich areas/thick components.
• draining of resin from vertical surfaces
o
may require addition of thixotropic agents.
• only one moulded surface.
• low fibre volume fraction/high level of voids
• high levels of waste
Vacuum bagging
NB: this process is fundamentally different to
resin infusion (see lecture C7),
even though both use a bag !
Vacuum bagging: consumables I
• Peel-ply: sacrificial open weave fibreglass or
perforated heat-set nylon ply to provide the textured
and clean surface necessary for further lamination or
secondary bonding.
• Release film: (perforated) sheet to prevent
adhesion.
• Bleeder cloth: non-structural fabric to absorb excess
resin/reactants from the laminate.
• Breather cloth: porous material to provide a gas
flow path over the laminate to
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o
ensure uniform vacuum pressure
permit the escape of air, reactants, moisture and volatiles
Vacuum bagging: consumables II
• Bagging film: membrane which permits a vacuum
to be drawn within the bag.
• Tacky tape: adhesive strip used to bond the bag to
the tool and provide a vacuum seal.
• Caul plate: tool placed on the laminate inside the
bag to define the second surface.
• Edge dams: Profile to define component edge
• Intensifiers: hard rubber profiles incorporated in
the bag to consolidate the laminate at sharp radii.
Vacuum bagging: equipment
• Breach unit: connector to permit a vacuum to be
drawn through the bagging film.
• Vacuum pipes: link between the breach unit and
the vacuum pump.
• Resin trap: container in the vacuum line to collect
any excess resin before it can damage the vacuum
pump.
• Vacuum pump: generally a high-volume pump
(absolute vacuum is rarely required) suitable for
continuous running. For slow-curing epoxy resins
need 24h operation.
• Pressure gauges: generally clock-type or digital
gauges attached via a breach unit connection.
Vacuum bagging: breach unit,
pressure gauge and hose
Vacuum-bagging: advantages
• as for hand-lamination, except
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higher fibre volume fractions/lower void contents.
better fibre wet-out due to pressure/resin flow.
heavier fabrics can be wet-out.
volatile organic compounds are largely contained
during the curing stage.
the additional consolidation pressure can help the
reinforcement to conform to tight curvatures.
improved mechanical properties consequent upon
the higher fibre volume fraction.
Vacuum bagging: disadvantages
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as for hand lamination, except
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higher labour skills for the bagging stage.
low production rates due to bagging stage
joining bagging film for large items.
mould tool must be vacuum tight.
costs for consumables and equipment.
the vacuum pump may strip volatiles from resin
consumable material compatibility with resin
consolidation pressure limited to 1 atm.