Investigating cavity pressure behavior in high-pressure RTM process variants

The paper addresses new variants of the high pressure resin transfer molding (HP-RTM) process namely high pressure injection RTM (HP-IRTM) and high pressure compression RTM (HP-CRTM) for manufacturing of carbon fiber reinforced composites with high fiber volume content. Both these processes utilize high-pressure RTM equipment for precise dosing and mixing of highly reactive epoxy resin and amine hardener with relatively high throughput rates. The paper addresses results of a study which investigated cavity pressure measurement for both the HP-RTM process variants using a specially designed highpressure RTM mold. The investigations indicate that the cavity pressure built up is a characteristic of the selected process variant. Further the relationship between the applied press force and the cavity pressure in HP-CRTM process was studied.