Enhancing Flow of CNT-Doped Resins in the Manufacture of Multiscale Composites Using the RIDFT Process

摘要

The increasing use of multi-scale composites in advanced structural materials necessitates the improvement of current infusion techniques to allow for the low-cost and environmentally conscious production of these materials. With all the stated advantages of carbon nanomaterials, their inclusion into resin systems radically increases resin viscosities making infusion rather difficult. Additionally, when infusing the doped resin systems through fiber preforms, filtration of the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is prevalent. The Resin Infusion between Double Flexible Tooling (RIDFT) process is used in this work to manufacture composites with up to 2wt. % CNTs. The use of novel temporary flow distribution channels allow the doped resin systems to flow with little difficulty, over the fiber perform, penetrating the layers thru-thickness rather than end-to-end, thereby noticeable reducing filtration effects for the fibers. Composite panels were infused through reinforcing fabrics with 1, and 2% wt of CNTs dispersed using a 3- roll calendaring mill in vinyl ester resin. Eight flow distribution channel configurations were assessed to determine an optimized geometry for resin flow. Flexural tests were performed on neat and CNT doped resin samples to compare the mechanical properties.