As for environmental protection, relatively inexpensive tooling and the ability to fabricate large parts with complex geometries, the vacuum bag molding (VBM) process might be the best choice to replace the traditional open molding processes. The resin infusion processes in VBM are similar to the mold filling processes in RTM. However, the following two issues must be considered: the resin flow from the channels or grooves to the fiber mats, and the compressibility of the fiber mats. A flow model to simulate the VBM processes is introduced in the paper. The simulation has been validated with the experiments of sub-scale composite hulls.
| Number of Pages : | 10 |
| Published : | 06/01/1997 |
