Development of the in situ forming of a liquid infused preform (ISFLIP) process : a new manufacturing technique for high performance fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) components
A problem is not a problem anymore if no solution exists; therefore, in the present dissertation, a novel manufacturing technique, the In Situ Forming of a Liquid Infused Preform (ISFLIP), is proposed as a solution to some typical problems that manufacturing of Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) parts t...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2017 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/112205 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/112205 https://dx.doi.org/10.5821/dissertation-2117-112205 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Composite material Degassing Design of experiments Dry fibre technology Fibre reinforced polymer Fibre volume fraction Forming Manufacturing Porosity Vacuum infusion Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria dels materials |
| Sumario: | A problem is not a problem anymore if no solution exists; therefore, in the present dissertation, a novel manufacturing technique, the In Situ Forming of a Liquid Infused Preform (ISFLIP), is proposed as a solution to some typical problems that manufacturing of Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) parts through Vacuum Infusion (VI) involves, such as not taking advantage of the full potential of FRPs, long processing times and lack of reproducibility. ISFLIP is a hybrid process between VI and diaphragm forming in which a flat preform of a stack of reinforcement fabrics is firstly impregnated with a low viscosity matrix and, then, formed over a mould while the matrix is still in the low viscosity state. Being focused on high performance FRPs and shell components, from simple to complex double curvature shapes, a number of trade-offs between VI and diaphragm forming were overcome to lay the foundations from which ISFLIP ability to manufacture FRP components has been proven. In order to adopt a VI manufacturing methodology that fitted ISFLIP targets, important contributions to more general VI have also been made in terms of part quality optimization, addressing the major concern that void content is in VI, with competitive manufacturing times. An effective vacuum degassing procedure in which bubble formation is enhanced through high speed stirring, and a non-conventional filling and post-filling strategy are proposed for this purpose. Eventually, void content was virtually eliminated and post-filling time minimized without affecting fibre content. In ISFLIP, textile preforms are formed together with a series of auxiliary materials (plastic films and sheets, textile fabrics and knitted meshes), most of them showing different in-plane deformation mechanisms. Forming performance of preforms, as well as final part quality, are severely affected by interactions between all these materials different in nature. Uncertainties on this respect and an initial evaluation of attainable shapes were also addressed to define a more focused research plan to the final goal, still distant, of implementing ISFLIP in a real production environment. Results obtained throughout the research project give cause for reasonable optimism in ISFLIP potential and future prospects. |
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