Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CHAPTER-5
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS
5.1 Fabrication techniques of composite materials
Various processes are available for making composite materials. The different
processes available for the fabrication of fiber-reinforced composites are
1) Hand lay-up
2) Vacuum bag moulding
3) Pressure bag moulding
4) Autoclave moulding:
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5.3 Accessories
5.3.1 Peel ply
One the laminate is in place; its time to apply the bag the first item to go down is a
peel ply. Peel plies are a tightly woven fabric, often nylon, and impregnated with some
type of release agent. The peel ply will stick to the laminate, but it will pull away without
to much difficulty.
Peel ply is optional. Most often it is used to give the laminate a rough, rather than
smooth, finish. Many engineers consider this a bondable finish, and it usually passes a
wet out test.
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The breather must be thick enough so that it does not become fully saturated with
resin. a thick breather is also desirable to keep resin from coming in contact with the bag.
It does not hurt anything if that happens, but preventing it makes the bag easier to remove.
5.3.4 Bag
The bag is the last item to be placed. Its a relatively thick plastic layer, available
in different amount of conformability. The bag is usually applied along one edge at a
time. Start at one corner and press the bag in to the other corner, removing the release
paper from the tape. As you move along the edge.
Be careful not to get any wrinkles in the bag or it will leak. Plates will be required for
anything but flat or simply curved structures. Make sure you remember to attach the
vacuum port (not shown in the figure) before closing the bag. The base of the port goes
inside the bag; cut a small cross in the bag for the attachment flange to fit through. If the
tool has an area for the port, make sure there is a breather path from the port to the part. If
the port goes on the part itself, put several layers of breather under the port to prevent
print through.