EFFECTS OF PROCESS VARIABLES ON CYCLE TIME DURING RESIN TRANSFER MOLDING FOR HIGH-VOLUME MANUFACTURE

The resin transfer moulding process has been identified as possessing good potential for the manufacture of components at low to medium production rates, but its application to high volume manufacture has yet to be demonstrated. The establishment of minimum cycle times is prerequisite to this aim; hence, a fundamental study has been carried out to establish the relative importance of several process variables regarding individual process times and the overall cycle time. This has been based on the use of simple modelling techniques in combination with a series of experiments using an instrumented plaque mould. The results of the two methods are compared and the relevance of each variable to process design for high volume manufacture is discussed. © 1990 The Institute of Metals.