L. Averous et R. Gauvin, SURFACE-ANALYSIS OF PHENOLIC COMPOSITES OBTAINED BY RTM PROCESS, Journal of reinforced plastics and composites, 17(13), 1998, pp. 1167-1184
Phenolic composites coupled with RTM process are being used more and m
ore on the automation market. One of the major problems encountered is
the surface aspect of the fabric produced due to volatile and air ent
rapment on the surface in contact with the mould. To improve the proce
ss is necessary to primarily develop adequate techniques dedicated to
surface analysis. Different techniques have been developed: Image anal
ysis and roughness determinations. Image analysis techniques allow to
determine surface aspect parameters such as the area fraction or to es
tablish granulometric repartition in sizes of the open pores. This too
l seems to be adapted to the surface aspect analysis. Finally, for the
process we have noticed an interest using surface veils to improve th
e surface aspect of the fabrics in order to eliminate the gelcoat phas
e.