IN-LINE MONITORING AND NUMERICAL VERIFICATION OF RESIN TRANSFER MOULDING PROCESS WITH CYCOM® 890 RTM RESIN SYSTEM

An industrial scale Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) manufacturing trial was performed, injecting Cytec CYCOM (R) 890 RTM resin system into 5-Harness Satin carbon preforms utilising in-line monitoring technology to validate numerical predictions. As the RTM process uses a metallic mould, visual inspection cannot be used for validation, hence the paper assesses the applicability of dielectric sensors for this purpose. The reasons for and potential benefits of using off-line simulation to define the manufacturing process are summarised in this paper, specifically in relation to the simulation of the RTM process. The results of simulations are used to aid and enhance mould design, optimise inlet and vent gate position and geometry, and to control the flow front and part quality. The paper describes and demonstrates the effectiveness of simulation technology applied to the RTM manufacturing process. Off line simulation of the cure process is performed in order to understand and define appropriate heat flow and cure development for CYCOM (R) 890 RTM. Numerical results are then compared with experiments performed with an industrial set-up of the RTM process. The paper describes in-line monitoring using dielectric sensor technology and robust modelling of flow front advancement and degree of cure development in a flat panel case and its assessment in a complex shape geometry part where the robustness of the numerical prediction is tested.