M. Cengiz Altan

Effect of injection rate and post-fill cure pressure on properties of resin transfer molded disks

The effects of flow rate andpost-fill cure pressure, i.e., packing pressure, on the mechanical properties of resin transfer molded disks are experimentally investigated. An experimental molding setup is constructed to fabricate fiber-reinforced, center-gated, disk-shaped composite parts. Disks are molded at different flow rates and packing pressures in order to observe the effects of these parameters on the mechanical properties andvoidcontent of the final parts. Specimens are cut from three different locations in the molded disks for testing. Specimens from the first two locations are tensile testedto obtain strength and stiffness properties, and the third location is usedfor microscopic analysis to determine void content and void properties. Increased injection rate is found to reduce both the strength and stiffness of the molded parts due to more voids induced by the faster moving fluidfront. Packing pressure is also foundto have a significant effect on specimen properties. At higher packing pressures fewer voids and improved strength andstiffness are observed. Mechanical properties are correlatedwith total void fraction for disks molded at different packing pressures. Exponential decrease in both tensile strength andelastic modulus is observedwith increasing voidfraction. Doubling the voidvolume fraction from 0.35 to 0.72% results in a 15% decrease in strength and a 14% decrease in stiffness. The results demonstrate that selection of suitable injection rate and addition of packing pressure to resin transfer molding (RTM) process can improve mechanical properties of molded parts considerably.

Anisotropic channel flow of fiber suspensions

The two-dimensional flow of fiber suspensions in a straight channel is numerically studied by using a rheological model for anisotropic fluids. The fibers are assumed to be rigid cylindrical bodies with negligible inertia. Considering the suspension as a homogeneous medium, the orientation field is described by a fourth-order tensor which relates velocity gradients to bulk stresses generated by the fibers. The orientation evolution equation for the fourth-order orientation tensor is implemented using a sixth-order quadratic approximation that satisfies the required tensorial symmetry. The final form of the equations presents a convenient and tractable model for spatially nonuniform flows. This constitutive model is used to analyze the flow field resulting from the introduction of randomly oriented fibers in a fully developed channel flow. Before the steady conditions are obtained, significant transients in the velocity and orientation fields are observed up to several channel widths downstream. The two-dimensional orientation and velocity fields are presented for a number of cases corresponding to different fiber concentrations and aspect ratios.

Closed-form solution for the orientation field in a center-gated disk

The orientation field induced by the steady, radially diverging, Newtonian flow between flat, parallel disks is studied. Exact solution for the three‐dimensional rotation of a rigid, hydrodynamically isolated, neutrally buoyant, non‐Brownian, slender particle is developed throughout the flow domain from an Eulerian viewpoint. Hence, a closed‐form expression is obtained for the orientation distribution, which represents the accurate spatial characterization of the orientation field. In addition, the accuracy of the closure approximations used in complex suspension flow simulations is investigated. Both hybrid and quadratic closure approximations are found to yield considerably inaccurate results, including incorrect asymptotic behavior. The exact solution indicates a stable skin‐core orientation structure at large distances from the inlet, which is also confirmed by the available experimental data.

Effect of Nanoclay Content on Void Morphology in Resin Transfer Molded Composites

Effects of nanoclay content on morphology and spatial distribution of voids in resin transfer molded nanoclay/E-glass/epoxy composite disks are investigated. Closite®25A nanoclay loads of 2, 5, and 10wt% are mixed by sonication with a low-viscosity epoxy resin prior to filling the mold cavity containing 13.6% E-glass preform by volume. A disk without nanoclay is also molded. Once the molded composites are cured, voids on radial composite samples are evaluated via microscopic image analysis. The addition of nanoclay is found to result in a significant increase in the apparent viscosity of the clay-epoxy mixture, thus increasing the molding pressure. Void occurrence is observed to increase considerably with increasing nanoclay content, from 2.1% in the composite without nanoclay to 5.1 and 8.3% in the composites molded with 5 and 10wt% nanoclay, respectively. However, the composite with 2wt% nanoclay yields the lowest void content of 0.7%. Voids are observed to be, in average, smaller after the addition of nanoclay at all nanoclay concentrations. Presence of nanoclay in the impregnating resin induces at least 60% reduction in voids located inside fiber tows, which are trapped by the fluid front motion during impregnation. Irregularly shaped voids are also observed to decrease with increasing nanoclay content. A nonuniform void content and morphology is observed radially, which seems to be affected by the flow kinematics as well as possible breakdown and filtration of clay clusters.

Calorimetric and Rheological Measurements of Three Commercial Thermosetting Prepreg Epoxies

The cure kinetics of three different thermosetting resins are investigated using differential scanning calorimetry and oscillatory shear rheometry. For the latter, two different types of plates are used, smooth plates and grooved plates; the latter are used to improve sample–plate contact. In addition, oscillatory compression rheology is used; however, machine compliance prevents accurate measurements at high conversions. A fractional conversion is defined based on the maximum storage modulus achieved at a given temperature, and is compared to the fractional conversion calculated from enthalpy measurements. As expected, the rates of reaction derived from these fractional conversions are very different for calorimetry and rheometry. However, the rates of reaction using the two types of plates are identical, although the grooved plates give much more reproducible storage moduli. A number of previously used mathematical expressions are employed to fit the calorimetric and rheological data, and the activation energies calculated from these fits are compared.

A Review of Fiber-Reinforced Injection Molding: Flow Kinematics and Particle Orientation

The existing flow and particle orientation models applicable to fiber- reinforced injection molding are reviewed. After a brief description of injection molding, previous studies on the flow kinematics and fiber reinforcement are presented. Basics of Hele-Shaw flows are described Including the commonly used viscosity models and foun tain flow effects. Some of the existing models for particle orientation are analyzed with particular emphasis on the amsotropic description of the material system. Concentration regions for short fiber suspensions are defined and relevant constitutive equations are dis cussed. A few example solutions are also given which describe the three-dimensional ori entation field for the filling of a sudden expansion cavity, depicting skin-core orientation structure.

Effect of Preform Thickness and Volume Fraction on Injection Pressure and Mechanical Properties of Resin Transfer Molded Composites

An experimental study is performed to characterize the effect of the thickness of random preforms on injection pressure and mechanical properties of resin transfer molded (RTM) parts. Center-gated, disk-shaped parts are molded using two different chopped-strand glass fiber preforms. Both preforms have random microstructure but different planar densities (i.e., different uncompressed layer thicknesses). Tensile strength, short-beam shear strength, and elastic modulus are measured for parts molded with each preform type at three different fiber volume fractions of 6.84, 15.55, and 24.83%. Although mechanical properties are found to increase linearly with volume fraction, significant difference is not observed between disks containing thick and thin mats at equivalent fiber volume fraction. However at the same fiber content, parts molded with thin mats require significantly lower injection pressures compared to parts containing thick mats. To characterize this phenomenon, a pressure-matching method to determine planar permeability is presented. Permeability values for each preform would provide a quantitative description of the required injection pressure due to changes in preform thickness, with lower permeabilities resulting in higher injection pressure. Transient pressure data is collected at a fixed radial location within the mold cavity during filling for both preforms at three different volume fractions. Permeability is obtained by fitting the theoretical pressure equation derived from Darcy’s law to the transient pressure data. Permeability values are found to be as much as 227% higher for thin mats compared with thick mats at the same fiber content. The results demonstrate that equivalent mechanical properties can be obtained at lower injection pressures by using thinner random mats.

Filtration and Breakdown of Clay Clusters during Resin Transfer Molding of Nanoclay/Glass/Epoxy Composites

Dispersion of nanoclay clusters during resin transfer molding of nanoclay/glass/epoxy disks is investigated. In addition to a center-gated disk containing only 14% glass fibers, three nanocomposite disks are fabricated with the addition of 2, 5 or 10 wt% Cloisite® 25A nanoclay. The spatial distribution of nanoclay clusters along the radial axis of the nanocomposite disks are characterized at two length scales. Clusters larger than 1.5 μm are characterized by performing image analysis on the SEM micrographs whereas smaller nanoclay clusters are identified by wavelength dispersive spectrometry. Results obtained from image analysis indicate that nanoclay clusters are filtered out by as much as 50% in the flow direction by the glass fiber preforms. In addition, increasing nanoclay content led to higher filtration, suggesting that cluster formation is more prominent at higher nanoclay loadings. Cluster size distribution analyses revealed that the outer edges of the disks, on average, contain finer nanoclay particles. For instance, the outer edge of the nanocomposite with 2% clay contains 22% more small nanoclay clusters compared to center of the disk. Glass transition temperature, Tg, of four specimens obtained from each molded disks is characterized under oscillatory shear. Glass transition temperature of the samples are shown to increase with the nanoclay content, yielding a 40% higher Tg at 10% nanoclay loading compared to glass/epoxy composite without clay. Increasing glass transition temperature with increasing nanoclay content may be an indication of intercalation of nanoclay within the epoxy matrix.

Effect of Fiber Content on Void Morphology in Resin Transfer Molded E-Glass/Epoxy Composites

Effect of fiber volume fraction on occurrence, morphology, and spatial distribution of microvoids in resin transfer molded E-glass/epoxy composites is investigated. Three disk-shaped center-gated composite parts containing 8, 12, and 16 layers of randomly-oriented, E-glass fiber perform are molded, yielding 13.5%, 20.5%, and 27.5% fiber volume fractions. Voids are evaluated by microscopic image analysis of the samples obtained along the radius of these disk-shaped composites. The number of voids is found to decrease moderately with increasing fiber content. Void areal density decreased from 10.5 voids/mm 2 to 9.5 voids/mm 2 as fiber content is increased from 13.5% to 27.5%. Similarly, void volume fraction decreased from 3.1% to 2.5%. Increasing fiber volume fraction from 13.5% to 27.5% is found to lower the contribution of irregularly-shaped voids from 40% of total voids down to 22.4%. Along the radial direction, combined effects of void formation by mechanical entrapment and void mobility are shown to yield a spatially complex void distribution. However, increasing fiber content is observed to affect the void formation mechanisms as more voids are able to move toward the exit vents during molding. These findings are believed to be applicable not only to resin transfer molding but generally to liquid composite molding processes.

Entry flow of fiber suspensions in a straight channel

Abstract The planar channel entry flow of a Newtown fluid containing neutrally buoyant, non-Brownian, slender particles is studied numerically. In particular, the effects of Reynolds number, Re, and a nondimensional suspension parameter, C, on the developing velocity and orientation fields are investigated. The governing orientation equations are solved along particle paths, whereas the flow kinematics is determined from an Eulerian viewpoint. The fourth-order orientation tensor, which characterizes the orientation structure, is obtained from the differential orientation evolution equations and also from the Lagrangian description of the orientation angles of a number of fictitious fibers in the orientation space. It is found that both the second- and fourth-order orientation evolution equations, if used with quadratic closure approximations, inaccurately predict an earlier alignment of fibers in the flow direction. Furthermore, for higher values of suspension parameter C, convergent results are not obtained by using such evolution equations. On the other hand, the results obtained by following a number of orientation angles indicate that the entry length increases linearly with C, and the effect of Reynolds number on the entry length becomes negligible for high C values.