MANUFACTURING OF COMPOSITE LINKS BY STRUCTURAL REACTION INJECTION-MOLDING

An innovative approach has been developed to fabricate composite parts with complicated geometry. The part is first divided into several sim ple substructures and each substructure is produced by an optimal proc ess. These preformed substructures are then assembled on a specially d esigned tool and transferred into a mold cavity for resin impregnation by structural reaction injection molding (SRIM). A composite link is used as an example in this study. The mold filling pattern is simulate d using a 3-D computer model. The simulated results compared well with the experimental results when race tracking and fiber impingement eff ects were considered in the model.