Resin transfer molding (RTM) process of a high performance epoxy resin. II: Effects of process variables on the physical, static and dynamic mechanical behavior

The effects of processing variables on the mechanical behavior and the void content of one-part epoxy based glass fabric composites produced by resin transfer molding (RTM) were investigated. The variables studied included in jection pressure, infection temperature. and fabric structure. Image analys is was used to measure the void content in the composites. Variations in in jection pressure and temperature were found to have a significant effect on the quality and the mechanical performance of composites. The optimized ph ysical and mechanical performance of the composites was obtained by process ing the resin at 160 degrees C under 392 kPa pressure. Molding of highly pe rmeable EF420 fabric required a shorter mold filling time, but resulted in reduced flexural strength and storage modulus in the resulting composites a s compared with that of the composites containing 1581 fabric.