Manufacturing methods

• Compression Molding
• Vacuum bagging
• Filament winding
• Resin transfer molding
• Pultrusion
• Wet lay up or hand lay up
• Fiber placement, tape laying
 Compression molding
• Manufacturing process that uses a male and
female mold
• The two side of the molds are used to apply
pressure and give the part its final shape.
• Two commonly used heating methods with
compression molding are accomplished by
circulating heated oil through the mold or the use
of electric filament, which are imbedded into the
mold. Another option is to place the entire mold
assembly into an oven.
 Vacuum bagging
• With this technique, the object which is to be cured is
placed into a plastic bag and the air is then withdrawn
by the use of a vacuum source.
• When the air is evacuated, pressure is applied to the
component by the surrounding atmosphere.
• A good vacuum source for composites will pull about
28 in.Hg at sea level, which result in nearly 14 psi
pressure being applied to the surface.
• Vacuum bagging is the most commonly used method
to apply pressure for composites repairs
• The vacuum bag technique can be used in combination
with molds and wet lay up.
 Filament winding
• The reinforcing fiber is wound as a continuous
thread around a mandrel of the desired
shape.
• Usually use pre pegs threads
• Once the filament has been wound in the
desired pattern, the composite mixture is
cured. The part is usually vacuum bagged and
cured in an autoclave .
 Resin transfer molding (RTM)
• RTM is a manufacturing method that uses a
two part mold with the dry fabric laid into the
mold.
• The two molds are matched together an a
system of resin and catalyst is pumped into
the mold through injection ports. The resin
follows a path throughout the mold.
• The part inside the mold can be heated and
cured.
 pultrusion
• The reinforcing fibers are dipped into a resin
bath and pulled into a die, which is the shape
of the desired part. The material moves
through the die as it is heated and cured.
 Wet lay up or hand lay up
• Hand lay up is manufacturing technique that is
simply laying prepreg material by hand into a
mold. The mold is usually vacuum bagged and
placed into an autoclave or oven to cure. If the
parts require extra pressure, an autoclave is used.
If the parts don’t need the extra pressure, an
oven can be used.
• If prepregs are not used, and the fabric is
impregnated with resin by hand, the process is
known as a wet lay up.
 Fiber placement, tape laying
• This is an automated process in which tapes
(unidirectional prepegs) are laid over a
mandrel and compress into place.
• The difference between this and the filament
winding process is that the tapes can be cut at
the ends and very intricate shapes can be
formed.