Composite factory

BAHIR DAR UNIIVERSITY

BAHIR DAR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (BiT)
FACULTY OF MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
ETHIO PLASTIC INDUSTRY (EPI)

INTERNSHIP REPORT – composite factory

SUMBMITTED TO WOGIYE W.

SUMBMITTED BY-

 DANIEL ESHETU
AND

 MESEFEN MULAW
 JEMAL AYALEW

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1.introduction
A composite material is made by combining two or more materials – often ones that have
specific different physical or chemical properties that, when combined, produce a material with
characteristics different from the individual components which give unique properties. These
materials where one of the materials is reinforcement (fiber) and the other material is a matrix
(resin). The combination of the fiber and matrix provide characteristics superior to either of the
materials utilized alone. Examples of composite products in nature are wood, bamboo and bone,
and an example of an early man-made manufactured composite is mud and straw which has been
used for over 10,000 years. However, with in the composite we can easily tell the different
materials apart as they do not dissolve or blend into each other.

Early composites -People have been making composites for many thousands of years. One early
example is mud bricks. Mud can be dried out into a brick shape to give a building material.
Another ancient composite is concrete. Concrete is a mix of aggregate (small stones or gravel),
cement and sand. It has good compressive strength (it resists squashing). In more recent times it
has been found that adding metal rods or wires to the concrete can increase its tensile (bending)
strength. Concrete containing such rods or wires is called reinforced concrete.

Most composites are made of just two materials. One is the matrix or binder. It surrounds and
binds together fibers or fragments of the other material, which is called the reinforcement.

The first modern composite material was fiberglass. It is still widely used today for boat hulls,
sports equipment, building panels and many car bodies. Some advanced composites are now
made using carbon fibers instead of glass. These materials are lighter and stronger than fiber
glass but more expensive to produce. They are used in aircraft structures and expensive sports
equipment such as golf clubs. Carbon nanotubes have also been used successfully to make new
composites. The new material may be preferred for many reasons: common examples include
materials which are stronger, lighter, or less expensive when compared to traditional materials.
More recently, researchers have also begun to actively include sensing, actuation, computation
and communication into composite.

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Composites materials are made by combining Composite materials are very versatile and are
utilized in a variety of applications. Composite parts provide superior strength, stiffness and light
weight, and can be formed into any shape. An ideal applications are large complex-shaped
structures such as fiberglass covers. Composite products are ideal in applications where high-
performance is required such as aerospace, race cars, boating, sporting goods, and industrial
applications. The most widely used composite material is fiberglass in polyester resin, which is
commonly referred to as fiberglass. Fiberglass is lightweight, corrosion resistant, and
economical, easily processed, has good mechanical properties. It is the dominant material in
industries such as boat building and corrosion equipment, and it plays a major role in industries
such as architecture, automotive, medical, recreational and industrial equipment.

The typical composite materials can be made with fibers such as fiberglass, carbon fiber
(graphite), Kevlar, quartz and polyester. The fibers come in veil mat, short fibers mat, woven
cloth, unidirectional tape, biaxial cloth or triaxial cloth. The resins are typically thermal set resins
such as polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy, polyurethane and phenolic. The resins start as a liquid and
polymerize during the cure process and harden. The weight ratio of fibers to resin can range from
20% fibers to 80% resin to 70% fibers to 30% resin. Typically the higher fiber content provides
even better strength and stiffness, and continuous fibers provide better strength and stiffness. The
use of composite materials provides engineers the ability to tailor the combination of fibers and
resin to meet design requirement, and perform better than standard materials.

Composites materials are replacing metals and plastics in many industries and composites are the
material of choice for many new applications. Mainly produce composite tables, compact
substitutions (CSS) and power factor cabinet (PFC).

The biggest advantage of modern composite materials is that they are light as well as strong. By
choosing an appropriate combination of matrix and reinforcement material, a new material can
be made that exactly meets the requirements of a particular application. Composites also provide
design flexibility because many of them can be molded into complex shapes. The down side is
often the cost. Although the resulting product is more efficient, the raw materials are often
expensive.

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agent (Magnesium oxide)

1.1.Raw material

- SMC (sheet molding compound)

-M5 and M6 nuts
SMC raw materials-Glass roving

 Pe/Nylon/PE foil
 Unsaturated polyester resin (thickenable with MgO)
 Low shrink addive (e.g.solution of polystyrene in styrene)
 Low profile additive (PVAc solution or saturated polyester)
 Catalyst (TBPB)
 Internal release agent (Zinc stearate)
 Filler (Calcium carbonate, Dolomite, ATH, Talcum,
 Colour paste
 Thickening
1.2.Raw material description

Sheet molding compound (SMC)-or sheet molding composite is a ready to mould glass-fibre
reinforced polyester material primarily used in compression moulding. The sheet is provided in
rolls weighing up to 1000 kg.

SMC is both a process and reinforced composite material. This is manufactured by dispersing
long strands (usually >1”) of chopped fiber (commonly glass fibers or carbon fibers on a bath of
resin (commonly polyester resin, vinylester resin or epoxy resin). The longer fibers in SMC
result in better strength properties than standard bulk moulding compound (BMC) products.
Typical applications include demanding electrical applications, corrosion resistant needs,
structural components at low cost, automotive, and transit.

Process- Paste reservoir dispenses a measured amount of specified resin paste onto a plastic
carrier film. This carrier film passes underneath a chopper which cuts the fibers onto the surface.
Once these have drifted through the depth of resin paste, another sheet is added on top which
sandwiches the glass. The sheets are compacted and then enter onto a take-up roll, which is used
to store the product whilst it matures. The carrier film is then later removed and the material is

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cut into charges. Depending on what shape is required determines the shape of the charge and
steel die which it is then added to. Heat and pressure act on the charge and once fully cured, this
is then removed from the mould as the finished product.

Advantages- Compared to similar methods, SMC benefits from a very high volume production
ability, excellent part reproducibility, it is cost effective as low labor requirements per production
level is very good and industry scrap is reduced substantially. Weight reduction, due to lower
dimensional requirements and because of the ability to consolidate many parts into one, is also
advantageous. The level of flexibility also exceeds many counterpart processes.

Physical properties (properties vary depending upon fiber and resin types)-Impact Strength: 8–
13 ft·lbf/in, Flex Strength: 18-34 KPSI, Flex Mod: 1.5-2.1 KPSI, Tensile Strength: 8-18 KPSI,
Compressive Strength: 24-32 KPSI, HDT @ 264 PSI: >500°F.See also Bulk moulding
compound and Fiber-reinforced plastic

SMC is a combination of chopped glass strands and filled polyester Resin in the form of a sheet.
Processing SMC by compression or injection molding produces bodywork or structural
automotive components and electrical or electronic machine housings in large industrial
volumes. The process is also used for other products such as sanitary ware (baths) and urban
furniture (stadium and cinema seating).

The pre-preg contains all the components needed to mold the final part (resin, reinforcement,
filler, catalyst, low Profile additives, etc.) in a malleable and non-tacky sheet.SMC pre-preg is
made from chopped glass strands sandwiched between two layers of film, onto which the resin
paste has already been applied. The pre-preg passes through a compaction system that ensures
complete strand impregnation before being wound into rolls. These are stored for a few days
before molding to allow the Prepreg to thicken to a moldable viscosity.

Equipment- Metering pump to dose thickening agent (MgO paste), Pump and piping to connect
mixing vessel to SMC machine, SMC machine, Glass roving rack and guiding tubes, Mixer,
Auto tape layer, HDF (hot drape forming), NC Ply cutter, Laser projector, Autoclave, U.T C-
Scan

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Resins-Thermoplastic resins consist of macromolecular chains with no crosslinks between the

chains. The macromolecular chains themselves can have statistical oriented side chains or can
build statistical distributed crystalline phases. The chemistry and structure of thermoplastic resins
have an influence on the chemical resistance and resistance against environmental effects like
UV radiation. Naturally, thermoplastic resins can vary from optical transparency to opaque,
depending on the type and structure of the material. Thermoplastic resins can be reversibly
melted by heating and re solidified by cooling without significant changing of mechanical and
optical properties. Thus, typical industrial processes for part manufacturing are extrusion of
films, sheets and profiles or molding of components.
The viscosity of the melt is dependent on the inner structure, like average molecular weight and
spreading of the molecular weight around the average value. Low MFI values signify high
viscosity with glutinous flow behavior of the melt (materials for extrusion). Increasing MFI
values result in decreasing viscosity and lighter melt flow behavior (materials for molding). It
has to be noted that MFI values are only a rough estimation for the melt flow behavior because
the structure viscosity of thermoplastics strongly depend on the loading.
There are different types of resin these are used in fiber reinforced composites can also be
referred to as 'polymers'. All polymers exhibit an important common property in that they are
composed of long chain-like molecules consisting of many simple repeating units. Man-made
polymers are generally called 'synthetic resins' or simply 'resins'. Polymers can be classified
under two types, 'thermoplastic' and 'thermosetting', according to the effect of heat on their
properties.
Although there are many different types of resin in use in the composite industry, the majority of
structural parts are made with three main types, namely polyester, vinyl ester and epoxy.
Multiple uses of Epoxy resins Epoxy is a wonderful chemical known for its versatile nature.
FRP Fiber + Plastic matrix- Fiber: Kevlar, Glass fiber, Graphite fiber, BoronPlastic matrix:
Epoxy, Polyester

Process-Impregnation: fiber+resin andMolding- Compression molding, vacuum bag molding,

Open molding, Resin transfer molding

Molding reinforced plastic- Prepreg & Autoclave, Vacuum bag molding, Open molding (Contact
molding), Resin transfer molding (RTM), Filament windingPrepreg is a term for "pre-

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impregnated" composite fibers containing polymer matrix.The pre-preg is mostly stored in

cooled areas since activation is most commonly done by heat

1.3. Typical composite process

2. Material propagation-nesting, core machining, metal propagation
3. Lay-up-ATL,AFP or Hand lay-up, Laser optical device
4. BAGGING-vacuum check
5. CURE-autoclave, Heat(rate,uniformity),pressure,vacuum
6. DEBAGGING-cure log check, Appearance inspection
7. CRD- Trim the excess area
8. NDI- ultra sonic inspection, radio graphic inspection
9. Inspection- CMM, inspection

Vacuum-bag molding- Prepregs lay in mold and apply pressure in a vacuum.

Autoclave- Hence, composite structures built of pre-pregs will mostly require an oven or
autoclave to cure out. Temperature 1800C, Pressure 600KPa, Time 3h

Compression Molding- SMC is placed between two molds and pressure is applied.
Advantages of BMC-shot cycle times, integration of functions, Electric isolation, pigmented,
excellentprocess able

Open- molding process use single male or female mold and also called contact-molding. It
used in making products with high surface- area-to-thickness ratios.

Closed molding operation -consists of closely matched male and female dies (shape guide).
Applications are spacecraft parts, toys, etc.

Resin transfer molding (RTM)- allows the molding of components with complex shapes and
large surface areas with a good surface finish on both sides.

Filament winding- Glass fibers are embedded in thermosetting resin matrix materials and
winded around a pipe.

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2. products

Fig1. Products of composite factory

3. Problem identification

Influence of moisture- The moisture content of the UP resin or filler can play an important
role in the final thickening level (hydrogen bonds). Moisture accelerates the thickening in the
initial stage, but stops the thickening (too) early, not enough moisture causes higher plateau
viscosity.

Temperature control is extremely important - variations of a few degrees can result in

premature gelling in areas of mold if it is too hot and longer cure times than expected if some
areas of mold are too cold. Objective is to achieve fastest possible cure settings that are easy
to maintain and result in near uniform heating throughout the charge and no degradation

Environmental effects on properties of composite materials must be considered in the earliest

stages of a system design.

Corrosion-Fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) exhibit inherent corrosion resistance and may be used
to effect corrosion prevention

Electromagnetic- effects can be caused by various sources, including nuclear detonations,

lightning, and p-static or coroma discharge.

Fatigue(Exhaustion)- implies repealed loading at very low loads to effect localized plastic
deformations which can eventually cause damage to the piled loads are capacity of the material.

Other problem is the scrap; it can’t be recycled because the raw material loss its moisture so
can’t use it again.

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Another main problem was the shortage of raw material which is imported from foreign
countries that limit the production of materials for unpredicted extent.

4. Recommendations

We recommend that by using accurate temperature control

– improve productivity

– reduce internal stresses in molded part

– ensure reproducible part properties

The factory may have loss because of many scraps and shortage of raw material when there is
order, so to minimize these loss design scrap reducing machines and producing raw material
factory here in the county can eradicate the shortages of raw material in study of importing it.

Un worked machines should fix as fast as possible, because it can cause many risk on the
workers and also on the raw material. And also the machine should have work properly to get
ready the orders on time.