• Composites Research
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.304-310
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• 2018

Autoclave process has been remaining as one of the most robust and stable process in fabricating structural composite part of aerospace industry. It has lots of advantages, however exhibits some disadvantages or limitations in capital investment and operation. Recently, there have been various Out-of-Autoclave process being researched and developed to overcome those limitations. In this study, laminate specimens were fabricated using LCM (Liquid Composite Molding) process, regarded as one of potential OoA process. DB (Double bagging), CAPRI (Controlled Atmospheric Pressure Resin Infusion), VAP (Vacuum Assisted Process) and Autoclave process were used for laminate specimens. Void content, Thickness, Tg (Glass Transition Temperature), ILSS (Interlaminar Shear Strength) and Flexural strength properties were evaluated for comparison. It is verified that Autoclave based specimen has uniform thickness distribution, the lowest void content and outstanding mechanical properties. And, CAPRI based specimen exhibits relatively good physical and mechanical properties over DB and VAP based specimen and comparable mechanical properties with autoclave based specimen.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2023

Liquid Composite Molding (LCM), an Out of Autoclave (OoA) composite manufacturing process, has big advantages when making large and complex structures of airplanes. Since the importance of LCM process is increasing, FAA has suggested recommended guidance and criteria for the development of material and process specifications for LCM materials and process. The importance of LCM process is also raised by domestic composite material suppliers and OEM. This study suggested structures of material specifications and process specification of LCM materials. Material qualification method for LCM process and material was also developed in this study.

• Composites Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.76-80
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• 2020

In this study, vacuum bag hot-press (V-HP) process can be used as an out-of-autoclave (OOA) process by improving the inefficient process of the autoclave forming method with excellent physical properties and surface quality. A carbon fiber composite was molded via V-HP process and analyzed the physical properties and microstructures between composites manufactured by autoclave (AC) process and hot-press process (HP). The tensile strength of the composite materials using the V-HP process was 320.6 MPa and the AC process samples found to be substantially close to the tensile strength of 335.3 MPa. As a result of confirming the surface quality of the composite material using SEM, it was confirmed that in the V-HP process, the removal state of pores due to volatile solvent in the resin was slightly lower than that of the AC process, but it had a considerably superior surface compared to the HP process.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.269-276
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• 2021

PCM (Prepreg Compression Molding) process is a high-speed molding technology that can manufacture high-quality CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) parts. Compared to the autoclave process, it generates less waste and can significantly reduce cycle time, so various studies are being conducted in the aerospace and automobile industries. In this study, in order to improve the quality of the PCM process, a molding method was developed to increase the compression pressure of the press step by step according to the curing behavior of the prepreg. It was confirmed that this multi-stage compression molding technology is a good means to produce high-quality CFRP products and shorten cycle times. And, the laminated prepreg at room temperature was immediately put into the mold and preheated and molded at the same time, so that it could be molded without a separate preheating process. In addition, as a result of applying the same process conditions optimized for flat plate molding to three-dimensional shapes, a product similar to a flat plate in appearance could be made without the process of establishing process conditions.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.88-95
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• 2021

VARTM (Vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding) process is a low-cost process technology and affiliated with OoA (Out of Autoclave). Besides, it has been widely used in various fields. However, because of its lower quality than the autoclave process, it isn't easy to apply the VARTM process to the aerospace industry, which requires high reliability. The main problem of the VARTM process is the loss of mechanical properties due to the low fiber volume fraction and high void content in comparison to the autoclave. Therefore, many researchers have studied to reduce void and increase fiber volume fraction. This study examines whether the method of controlling atmospheric pressure could increase the fiber volume fraction and reduce void during the resin impregnation process. Reliability evaluation was confirmed by compressive strength test, fiber volume fraction analysis, and optical microscopy. As a result, it was confirmed that increasing the atmospheric pressure step by step in the VARTM process of impregnating the preform with resin effectively increases the fiber volume fraction and reduces void.

• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.310-314
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• 2023

VaRTM(Vacuum assisted resin transfer molding) and VAP(Vacuum assisted process) processes are a type of RTM(Resin transfer molding) process, and are typical out-of-autoclave (OOA) processes that can manufacture large structures at low cost. In this paper, a resin filling test was conducted to compare the VaRTM and VAP processes, and the filling process and dimensional stability were compared. In addition, an analysis method to simulate the filling process was developed, and a dielectric sensor was used to detect the flow front of the resin, which was compared with the analysis results. From the resin filling test, the total filling time of the composite plate was measured to be 48 minutes for the VAP process and 145 minutes for the VaRTM process, and the filling time by the VAP process was reduced by about 67%. In addition, it was confirmed that the VAP process was superior to the VaRTM process in the thickness control ability and uniformity of the composite plate.

• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.321-328
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• 2023

This study developed the in-situ stamp-forming process using the multi-axis robotic arm to fabricate thermal composite parts. Optimal fabrication parameters with the multi-axis robotic arm were determined using finite element analysis and these parameters were further refined through the practical manufacturing process. A comparison between the manufactured parts and finite element analysis results was conducted regarding thickness uniformity and wrinkle distribution to confirm the validity of the finite element analysis. Additionally, to evaluate the formability of the manufactured composite parts, measurements of crystallinity and porosity were taken. Consequently, this study establishes the feasibility of the In-situ stamp-forming consolidation using a robotic arm and verifies the potential for producing composite parts through this process.