Paper number 691

A STUDY OF RESIN TRANSFER MOLDING PROCESS USING EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN METHOD

X.R.Xiao, V.P.Astakhov, T.L.Su

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Concordia University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3G 1M8

Summary

Statistical design of experiments was used to investigate the effect of resin transfer molding (RTM) process variables on mechanical properties of the products. Two variables, the injection pressure and mold temperature, were investigated at this stage of research. The experiment was conducted following the 32 design. Since the RTM parts were molded using two batches of resin, the results were treated as a two-block problem. The short beam shear strength and flexural strength were measured to evaluate the mechanical properties. Among the two variables, the injection pressure is found to have a significant effect on both properties.

Keywords

resin transfer molding, composite manufacturing, statistical design of experiment, mechanical properties, molding temperature, pressure.