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Effect of silicone rubber mandrels on the pressure distribution and forming quality of composite hat joints by co-curing processing

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Abstract

In this work, composite hat joints were fabricated using silicone rubber mandrel with different proportions of the trapezoidal hole. The co-curing process was selected to form the composite hat joints. The pressure distribution during the co-curing process of composite hat joints was monitored by a capillary pressure test system. The external forming accuracies and internal microstructures of composite hat joints were measured using micrometer, caliper and optical digital microscopy, respectively. The thermal deformation of the silicone rubber mandrels was simulated through the thermo-mechanical coupled model. The results indicated that the internal pressure fluctuated obviously and unevenly without the opening of the trapezoidal hole. With the increase of XS value of the trapezoidal hole, the internal pressure was uniform and stable at the required pressure of 0.6 MPa at XS = 0.069. Meanwhile, the average differences for thickness and cavity height were only 0.033 mm and 0.36 mm, respectively, and microstructure was improved. Through the deformation simulation results and comparing with the specific tests, the optimum process windows for trapezoidal hole were recommended at XS values of 0.06 to 0.08. This work would be helpful to optimize the design of the silicone rubber mandrels and ultimately improve the forming quality of the composite hat joints.

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All data include in this study are available upon request by contact with the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No: 51975208), the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Hunan Province, (Grant No: 2020RC4001), the Natural Science Youth Fund of Hunan Province, (Grant No: 2020JJ5183) and the Doctoral Research Startup Fund of Hunan University of Science and Technology, (Grant No: E52077). The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the research team members of Central South University and Hunan University of Science and Technology for their support and useful discussions in this research work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical and Electrical Engineering College, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, 411201, China

    Tengfei Chang, Shujian Li & Yang Pan

  2. School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Lihua Zhan

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  1. Tengfei Chang
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  2. Lihua Zhan
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  4. Yang Pan
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Correspondence to Lihua Zhan.

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Chang, T., Zhan, L., Li, S. et al. Effect of silicone rubber mandrels on the pressure distribution and forming quality of composite hat joints by co-curing processing. Iran Polym J 32, 325–335 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-022-01129-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-022-01129-6

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