Design and Fabrication of a Leak Proof Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Mold for manufacturing Fiber Reinforced Plastic Laminate using Product Design Approach

摘要

A polymer composite material is a two phase material made up of a matrix and reinforcement. The constituents must be considered appropriate proportions for the desired properties in the final laminate prepared. Compared to other manufacturing methods of making polymer matrix composites, Resin transfer molding (RTM) allows better control over complex geometries and parts with larger diversities. The mold design becomes an important aspect of the process in RTM as the process is automated and quality of the part made depends on the design of the system. This work focuses on product design approach to designing and fabrication of mold for manufacturing fiber reinforced plastic laminates which is free from vacuum leakage. Although the RTM method is an old method, not much of the literature on optimum designing of the system is available. Product design approach is used in this work as it helps problem solving in a systematic way.