Composite Manufacturing

Composite
Manufacturing
R.Senthil Kumar
Senior Lecturer, KCT,
Coimbatore-06,
sen29iit@yahoo.co.in
Hand Lay-up
R.Senthil Kumar,KCT,Coimbatore
Hand lay-up moulding may be used for the
production of parts of any dimensions, for example,
technical parts of a few tens of m² area, as well as
swimming pools of 150 m² developed area
But, this method is generally limited to the

manufacture of parts with relatively simple shapes,
requiring only one face to have a smooth
appearance (the other face being rough from the
moulding operation). It is recommended for small
and medium volumes, for which the investment in
moulds and equipment should not be very high
Hand lay-up
• Resin with curing agent
• Applied with brush or roller
• Gel coat
• Reinforcement is cut to size and placed in the
mould
• Ribbed metal roller to consolidate the laminate
while forcing the air out
• Larger/thicker components in stages
• Metal inserts & core materials are build up in the
laminate/encapsulated by later layers
Laminating Process
Hand lay-up –Process Sequence
 Various forms of fibre reinforcement may be used in
hand lay-up: chopped strand mats, woven roving, woven
yarns, or cloths. Usually these forms are supplied in
rolls, which are unrolled during lay-up. Unrolled fibre
forms may be cut to size by using templates or patterns.
After cutting, reinforcement layers are positioned on the
prepared mould followed by wetting with the resin
mixture.
 In order to compact successive layers in the laminates,

rollers, squeegees, or stipple brushes are used. Rolling
will also remove air bubbles trapped in the laminate that
would otherwise decrease the mechanical strength of the
final product. Depending on the thickness of the product,
alternating layers of resin and reinforcement may be
added. After each new layer has been added, it is rolled
out manually.
Characteristics of Hand Lamination
• Low cost on mould and equipment

• Flexible
• Unique Designs
• Messy
• Labour intensive
• Difficult to control the process
• Most extensively used
Applications
• Vehicle components
• Leisure boats
• Construction member
• Windmill blades
• Pipes, storage tanks
• Electrical Equipments
• Bathroom interiors and pools
Manual Lay-up
Power boat hand laid up from glass reinforced
unsaturated polyester
Black Magic, New Zealand’s challenge in the 1995 America’s
cup in San Diego, is an example of advanced composites
usage.This composite is made by hand lay up process
Up to 30% of the structural weight of the multi role combat Saab Gripenis
polymer composite. The Gripen is likely unique in that the entire wings,
including all of the wing substructure, are composite. Other composite
components include vertical stabilizer, canard wings, control surfaces,
access doors, main landing gear doors, and radome. Components are
hand laid up from carbon-reinforced epoxy prepregs and cross linked in
an autoclave
Neoplan bus with self supporting sandwich body of glass and carbon
reinforced unsaturated polyester on expanded polymer foam core.
This bus weighs a third less than any comparable bus and offers a load
capacity slightly larger than its empty weight
Vacuum
Bag
Vacuum Bagging
 In vacuum bag moulding, the laminated component
produced by hand lay-up or spray-up on the open mould
is covered by a polymeric sheet. The sheet must be
flexible and non-adhering to the laminate: polyvinyl
alcohol or Nylon is usually chosen. After sealing the
edges of the covered mould, a vacuum is drawn to apply
pressure by the plastic bag against the laminated
component during curing.
 Compared to lay-up processes without bag moulding, the

vacuum method provides higher reinforcement content
and better adhesion between layers. In order to
accelerate curing,heating may be applied in the vacuum
bag technique
Typical vacuum Bagging Materials
Vacuum Bag
CONTACT MOULDING
(Vacuum Bag)
Compression Moulding
 Extrusion / compression moulding is used to produce

reinforced polypropylene parts for automotive
applications such as front-ends, bumper beams and
under body shields.
 Extrusion / compression moulding uses an extruder to
convert glass strands and PP pellets into a hot bulk
moulding compound. The molten charge is quickly
transferred to a press where it is moulded while still hot.
 The part is then removed after sufficient cooling. This
process is generally referred to as Long Fibre Thermoplastic
(LFT) processing.
 In direct LFT processing the glass strands are introduced
into the extruder in the form of a roving or chopped strands.
 It is also possible to use pellets incorporating long strands
in combination with PP pellets.
Dashboard of a heavy Volvo truck compression molded
glass reinforced polypropylene.The molded and painted
component is shown at the top and the complete dashboard
below it. R.Senthil Kumar,KCT,Coimbatore
Resin Transfer
Moulding
Resin Transfer Moulding: RTM
 RTM allows the moulding of components with complex
shape and large surface area with a good surface finish on
both sides. The process is suited for short and medium
production runs and is employed for many different
transport applications (truck cabs are an example).
• This process consists of filling a rigid and closed mould

cavity by injecting a resin through one, or several, points,
depending on the size of the component. The
reinforcements are previously placed in the interior of the
mould, before closing and locking it firmly.
Resin Transfer Moulding
• Usually, polyesters, epoxy, phenolic & acrylic resins are used,
and they can be filled if needed. Different types of mould can be
used, depending on the required production rate: Heat can be
applied to the mould to shorten the cure-time, in which case steel
moulds may be necessary.
• Low profile resins can be employed with heated moulds to
improve the surface finish and appearance of the moulded part.
Alternatively, low pressure RTM allows lower cost, composite
tooling to be used with low tonnage presses.
• The reinforcements may be continuous filament mats, complexes
or fabrics, but generally continuous filament mats are the most
widely used. The use of preforms from continuous strand mats
permits a considerable increase in production rate to be achieved.
Resin Transfer Molding (using
preform)
RTM -Applications
RTM -Applications
Pultrusion
Pultrusion
Pultrusion
 Pultrusion is a continuous process able to produce full

or hollow profiles of different shapes. Depending on the
design and the shape, fibre contents may range from 30
to 70% by weight.
 Pultruded profiles are used in many applications in

electrical, corrosion resistant, building and consumer
goods areas.
Process Sequence: Thermosetting Resins
• Reinforcement is impregnated with resin.

• Pulled through a heated die.
• Emerges from the die fully cured.
• Cut to length.
Resin impregnation in pultrusion
• By submerging the reinforcement in a bath before it enters

the die.
• By injection directly into the die.
Characteristics
 It enables very high fibre contents.
 Continuous yarn, woven cloth or mat reinforcement is used
 Tension applied ensures good longitudinal alignment of
fibres.
 Open, closed and even multicellular profiles can be
produced.
 Fillers are often introduced into the resin system to modify
profile properties, e.g., fire retardancy, cost reduction.
 The final step is a cut-off saw to cut the profile to the
required length.
 A typical pultrusion speed with thermosetting resin
systems is 0.5 - 2 m/minute.
Schematic of pultrusion process
Thermoplastic Pultrusion
 Preheating
 Impregnated with melt in-situ
 Two piece dies-heating-cooling
 Consolidation –Taper
 Carbon/PEEK
 Carbon/PPS
 Glass/PP
Thermoplastic Pultrusion
Standard Pultruded Sections
 Creative Pultrusions  Structural frames
Inc.
 Bridge decking
Microscopic picture of
unidirectional
Microscopical composite
picture
of Pultrusion Line
unidirectional composite
Filament winding
• This process consists of wrapping a thermosetting resin

impregnated reinforcement, generally based on single-end
rovings, around a suitable mandrel. The mandrel produces
the shape of the final item
• A filament winding machine wraps the mandrel with the
required amount of resin impregnated strands at the specified
orientation to build the designed reinforce structure
• Filament winding produces hollow items such as tubes,
pipes, elbows, tanks and vessels with a typical 70:30 ratio of
glass:resin
Winding patterns helical, hoop and polar
Filament wound composite Filament winding machine
Filament Winding
Filament Winding
Filament Winding
Injection
Moulding
Injection moulding process
 The injection moulding process for glass filament

reinforced pellets is similar to that for un-reinforced or filled
thermoplastics.
 As for compounding, the main differences will be in the
treatment of the screw to limit its wear, and a 10 to 30°C
higher barrel temperature because of the higher melt
viscosity.
 Thank you

Composite Manufacturing

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Composite Manufacturing

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Composite

But, this method is generally limited to the

 In order to compact successive layers in the laminates,

• Low cost on mould and equipment

 Compared to lay-up processes without bag moulding, the

 Extrusion / compression moulding is used to produce

• This process consists of filling a rigid and closed mould

 Pultrusion is a continuous process able to produce full

 Pultruded profiles are used in many applications in

• Reinforcement is impregnated with resin.

Resin impregnation in pultrusion

• By submerging the reinforcement in a bath before it enters

• This process consists of wrapping a thermosetting resin

 The injection moulding process for glass filament

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