Notes

Epoxy Infusion
Epoxy infusion is an intricate system, requiring special equipment to set up and run efficiently. Epoxy resin must be heated in order to infuse and cure properly; most epoxies can be blended with various speed hardeners for customized gel times; always check data sheets to make sure you are using your epoxy correctly.
Flow Media

Vacuum infusion takes away the pressures associated with open molding or hand layup; you have ample time for your laminate stack to set properly and develop.

However, even the best-planned infusion processes contain many moving parts that must work together seamlessly in order to be effective. epoxy infusion company Any misstep can cause irreparable harm, such as overinfusing resin or not having enough vacuum available to catch air bubbles as they arise from its surface.

Select an infusion resin capable of withstanding high temperatures in both infusing and curing for optimal results. There are numerous products on the market, such as orthophthalic or DCPD blended polyesters, but you should opt for one designed specifically for infusion with low viscosity that also can resist compression from vacuum bags to maintain channels for resin flow. It may take some trial-and-error until you find one you prefer, however.
Layup

Hand lay-up is a manual process where layers of chopped strand mat or woven fabric reinforcements are manually laid onto a mold or mandrel before resin is applied to impregnate the reinforcement material with resin, providing an open molding form of fiberglass composite fabrication ideal for complex shapes such as wind turbine blades or automobile bodies.

Omega Flow Lines can assist the flow of resin through your laminate's plies by providing easy feed lines that replace spiral tubing.


These machines feature an innovative internal design to transport resin directly to its next available vacuum point and reduce leakage by doing away with breathers, which may otherwise lead to leakage and pooling of resin.

When using VIP, it is wise to keep track of resin temperature using a thermometer. This enables you to understand when the resin gelling process has reached peak exotherm and allows for more predictable infusion attempts with consistent results.
Feed Lines

One major advantage of infusion over hand layup is not having to rush to get materials ready while resin cures; you can take your time cutting reinforcements according to patterns and arranging them in an organized fashion. A kitting process can make this easier - many businesses offer boxes pre-marked with kits from your CAD models that make this task simpler.

One key consideration in infusion processes is selecting non-crimp fabrics like unidirectionals and biaxials over wovens to avoid creating low pressure zones called "crimp." Crimp occurs when fiber tows loosen and form low pressure zones where they cross each other - this reduces performance and leads to poor resin flow in laminates infused with resin. Furthermore, having a very high vacuum level in your mold and an effective leak avoidance system is also key; test panels will help identify any potential issues before production begins; hopefully saving both parties!
Vacuum

A vacuum process drives resin into laminates. This may take the form of either standard single vacuum bag method, RTM process variants like DVB (developed by NASA for use on RTM processes) or CAPRI, developed by Boeing for their RTM process. Both feature rigid perforated shells sandwiched between flexible bags that apply separate controllable levels of vacuum to laminate region and clamping region respectively.

As with any infusion process, vacuum leakage is one of the greatest potential pitfalls when it comes to resin infusion. Air can easily enter a system and quickly ruin a part with pooled resin pools, under-saturation or complete stoppage of resin flow. To help mitigate this risk, high quality oil-free rotary vane vacuum pumps should be utilized and spiral tubing or an EnkaFusion Filter Jacket network can be utilized as extension lines for both vacuum and resin feed line extensions - these should preferably be wrapped in peel ply.

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