EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF PERMEABILITY AND FIBER WETTING FOR LIQUID MOLDING

Liquid moulding processes are unique in that resin is infused into a d ry fibre preform. Appropriate wet-out of the reinforcing fibres is thu s a necessity for the achievement of good composite properties. For th is class of manufacturing methods, both macroscopic flow, as related t o Darcy's Law and characterized by permeability, and microscopic flow, as related to fibre wet-out, are important. The current research inve stigates factors affecting permeability and fibre wet-out as related t o liquid moulding. Specifically, it is shown that fabric permeability is dependent on the type of test fluid used. Surface tension and conta ct angle measurements indicate that interactions at the microscopic le vel between fibre and test fluid account for these differences in perm eability. The investigation illustrates the competing nature of macros copic and microscopic flow in liquid moulding.