Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dimensional analysis of a prototype mould-making process for thermoplastic resin transfer moulding

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The resin transfer moulding (RTM) process is a low-cost process for the production of parts of composite material. However, the economic convenience is lost when large components should be produced, because of the high tooling cost. The step milling of a resin master and the subsequent deposition of a nickel shell could be a valid alternative for the fabrication of an RTM mould. So far, information about the quality of this method of fabricating RTM moulds is lacking, thus more efforts are needed to quantify the error induced by the manufacturing sequence. In order to control the whole process and to assess the quality of the manufactured part, the dimensional deviation due to single manufacturing steps is evaluated for a reference part. Both traditional pointwise measurements and contactless scanning are used for dimensional inspection.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Potter KD (1999) The early history of the resin transfer moulding process for aerospace applications. Compos A Appl Sci Manuf 30(5):619–621. doi:10.1016/s1359-835x(98)00179-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Palardy G, Hubert P, Haider M, Lessard L (2008) Optimization of RTM processing parameters for Class A surface finish. Compos Part B Eng 39(7–8):1280–1286. doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2007.12.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Kendall KN, Rudd CD, Owen MJ, Middleton V (1992) Characterization of the resin transfer moulding process. Compos Manuf 3(4):235–249. doi:10.1016/0956-7143(92)90111-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kim SK, Daniel IM (2005) Transient gas flow technique for inspection of fiber preforms in resin transfer molding. Compos A Appl Sci Manuf 36(12):1694–1699. doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2005.03.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Norman DA, Robertson RE (2003) The effect of fiber orientation on the toughening of short fiber-reinforced polymers. J Appl Polym Sci 90(10):2740–2751. doi:10.1002/app.12913

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Gill AF, Robinson P, Pinho S (2009) Effect of variation in fibre volume fraction on modes I and II delamination behaviour of 5HS woven composites manufactured by RTM. Compos Sci Technol 69(14):2368–2375. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2009.02.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. van Rijswijk K, Bersee HEN (2007) Reactive processing of textile fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites—an overview. Compos A Appl Sci Manuf 38(3):666–681. doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2006.05.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bickerton S, Stadtfeld HC, Steiner KV, Advani SG (2001) Design and application of actively controlled injection schemes for resin-transfer molding. Compos Sci Technol 61(11):1625–1637. doi:10.1016/s0266-3538(01)00064-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Verrey J, Wakeman MD, Michaud V, Månson JAE (2006) Manufacturing cost comparison of thermoplastic and thermoset RTM for an automotive floor pan. Compos A Appl Sci Manuf 37(1):9–22. doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2005.05.048

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Hutchinson JR, Schubel PJ, Warrior NA (2011) A cost and performance comparison of LRTM and VI for the manufacture of large scale wind turbine blades. Renew Energy 36(2):866–871. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2010.07.025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Park CH, Saouab A (2009) Analytical modeling of composite molding by resin infusion with flexible tooling: VARI and RFI processes. J Compos Mater 43(18):1877–1900. doi:10.1177/0021998309341848

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Gatto A, Iuliano L, Ravera M, Violante MG (2003) Employment of step milling for the manufacturing of moulds for resin tranfer moulding for infusion. In: Advanced in composite technology COMP 03, pp 1–10

  13. Iuliano L, Gatto A, Marchiandi G (2001) Step milling for prototyping of large and precise part. Paper presented at the 7th European Conference on Advanced Material and Processes Euromat 2001, Rimini, Italy, 10–14 June

  14. Raja V, Zhang S, Garside J, Ryall C, Wimpenny D (2006) Rapid and cost-effective manufacturing of high-integrity aerospace components. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 27(7):759–773. doi:10.1007/s00170-004-2251-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. RenShape® BM 5460 US—Product Data. http://www.freemansupply.com/datasheets/RenShapePolyToolingBoards/5460.pdf. Accessed 3 April 2012

  16. RenShape® BM 5460 US—Material Safety Data Sheet. http://www.freemansupply.com/MSDS/Combined/Huntsman/RenShape/RenShape5460.pdf. Accessed 3 April 2012

  17. International Organization for Standardization (2009) Geometrical product specifications (GPS)—Acceptance and reverification tests for coordinate measuring machines (CMM) Part 2: CMMs used for measuring linear dimensions, ISO 10360–2

  18. Wang Z, Bryanston-Cross PJ, Whitehouse DJ (1996) Phase difference determination by fringe pattern matching. Opt Laser Technol 28(6):417–422. doi:10.1016/0030-3992(96)00015-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Pages J, Salvi J, Garcia R, Matabosch C (2003) Overview of coded light projection techniques for automatic 3D profiling. In: Robotics and Automation, 2003. Proceedings. ICRA’03. IEEE International Conference on, 14–19 Sept. 2003 pp 133–138 vol.131

  20. Perry KE, McKelvie J (1995) Reference phase shift determination in phase shifting interferometry. Opt Lasers Eng 22(2):77–90. doi:10.1016/0143-8166(94)00026-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management and Production Engineering (DIGEP), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129, Torino, Italy

    Eleonora Atzeni, Paolo Minetola & Alessandro Salmi

Authors
  1. Eleonora Atzeni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paolo Minetola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alessandro Salmi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessandro Salmi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Atzeni, E., Minetola, P. & Salmi, A. Dimensional analysis of a prototype mould-making process for thermoplastic resin transfer moulding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 65, 309–317 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-012-4170-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-012-4170-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation