Influence of process parameters on glass fibre-reinforced polymers manufactured through high pressure resin transfer moulding

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

The influence of key process parameters on the production quality of glass fibre-reinforced polymers manufactured by high-pressure resin transfer moulding (HP-RTM) was systematically investigated. Uniform ±30° braided preforms were infiltrated under controlled variations of vacuum level, resin discharge rate, and preform fixation. Non-destructive characterisation using air-coupled ultrasonic testing, computed tomography, microscopy but also visual inspection revealed process-induced defects such as in-plane fibre displacements, out-of-plane waviness, voids, and dry spots. Subsequent quasi-static compression testing showed that while Young’s modulus remained largely unaffected, compressive strength decreased by up to 26 % under suboptimal processing conditions and was accompanied by a transition from shear-dominated to diffuse, matrix-dominated failure behaviour. Optimal laminate quality was achieved by evacuating the mould cavity to below 1.5 mbar, applying a reduced resin mass flow rate of approximately 10 g/s, and stabilising the preform by dual-sided fixation, resulting in an in-plane fibre orientation of ±30° ± 1.7°. The results establish clear process–structure–property relationships and provide quantitative guidance for robust and reproducible HP-RTM processing.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-6
Number of pages6
JournalManufacturing Letters
Volume48
Early online date6 Mar 2026
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2026
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0003-1370-064X/work/208073294
ORCID /0000-0003-0361-4596/work/208074812
Scopus 105032515148
WOS 001718056700001

Keywords

Keywords

  • Air-coupled ultrasonic testing, Compression testing, Computed tomography, Glass fibre-reinforced polymers, High-pressure resin transfer moulding, Process optimisation