Distribution of compaction pressure in fabric reinforcement stacks during composites manufacturing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63456/tsrj-2-2-46Keywords:
Carbon fibre fabrics, Compaction pressure, Distribution, Heterogeneity, Measurement, CompositeAbstract
The compaction of fabric reinforcements normal to their plane plays a central role in the manufacturing and performance of polymer composite materials (PMCs) made from such reinforcements. To be competitive as high-performance structural materials, PMCs must reach high fibre volume fractions (vf) that can only be achieved through normal compaction of the fabric reinforcements. Theoretical models of the effect of fabric architecture on the distribution of compaction pressure were proposed. However, few experimental results and direct evidence of pressure heterogeneity in compacted stacks of textile reinforcements are available. In this work, distributions of compaction pressures measured at different locations within stacks of woven and non-crimp (NCF) carbon fibre reinforcement fabrics are reported for different fabric structures, surface densities and cover factors. Local pressures were measured using image analysis of patterns imprinted on calibrated pressure measurement films interleaved between fabric plies. Pressure distributions were measured in-situ at 5 locations: A) next to hard tooling surfaces, B) next to soft tooling surfaces, and between fabric plies featuring C) parallel yarns and/or stitch lines, D) perpendicular yarns and/or stitch lines, and E) yarns and/or stitch lines separated by 45°, on their opposing faces. Pressures were measured under 1.0 bar vacuum in stacks of fabric plies only and stacks of fabric plies interleaved uncured epoxy resin film, both cases replicating PMC manufacturing. Pressure heterogeneity was observed in all cases, with clear patterns of high-pressure zones (>0.5 bar) traceable to fabric architecture. High compaction pressures were present over 40% of area on average in stacks of dry reinforcements, consistent at all locations A-E but varying between 30% and 45% for different fabric architectures and relative orientations. In contrast, high compaction pressures were present over 55% of area on average in interleaved stacks, varying between 50% and 60% for different fabric architectures and relative orientations, with more progressive transitions between areas of lower and higher compaction pressure in the latter case. No clear relations were observed between the extent of compaction pressure zones and fibre volume fraction vf , fabric surface density or initial fabric cover factor. Conformability of release film and breather lead to more homogeneous compaction pressure distributions on soft tooling surfaces compared with rigid tooling surfaces but they did not eliminate repeating patterns of compaction pressure. Patterns on one face of a fabric ply were observed to be largely distinct from patterns on the other face.
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