SGER: On-Line Fiber Preform Permeability Measurement and Its Applications to Liquid Composite Molding

Florida State University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

Liquid composite molding (LCM) is an important method of producing fiber reinforced composite materials. In LCM processing, resin flow induced defects are recognized as the largest cause of quality and reproducibility problems. The resin flow pattern is highly related to the fiber preform permeability and its variations in the entire area of the model. In order to characterize the fiber preform permeability accurately for downstream applications, this Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) will investigate a means of conducting on-line permeability measurements that can detect local permeability variations. The feasibility of this requires the demonstration that a measurable pressure drop can be determined over the length scales appropriate for this process, and the demonstration that resin permeability can be adequately related to the gas permeability proposed for this on-line measurement technique. The problem being addressed is a significant one to the fiber composite industry, and this project, if successful, would have a tremendous impact upon the production of high performance composite products via an environmentally clean mold-filling characterization methodology.