Race Tracking and Related Issues in Liquid Composite Moulding Process

摘要

Race tracking is movement of the resin along the sides, inside the mould in between the gaps of the preform and the mould; it is also the path of least friction in the flow. The issues related to design of the infusion set up to minimize the race tracking and methods of avoiding the race tracking during the infusion are highlighted in the paper. Presence of race tracking in a two-dimensional (2-D) radial infusion schemes, and the average increase in the thickness of the preform due to race tracking is evaluated here with different infusion strategy. Setups having the same material properties, and mould size are used for better comparison. The setup dimensional aspect for race tracking free infusion is also highlighted in the paper. Further numerical simulation of three different infusion strategies in the radial two-dimensional infusions is carried out to closely understand race tracking and its implications.