Semi-Analytical Solution of Post-Filling Stage in Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion

Abstract:

Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion (VARI) process has known significant industrial and scientific attentions due to its ability to manufacture large composite structures with a relatively high fiber volume fraction and low cost. However, it suffers simultaneously from long processing time and non-uniformity in part thickness along the part length due to respectively low pressure gradient between inlet and outlet, and the flexible nature of the vacuum bag. One approach to improve the part thickness uniformity is by allowing the excess resin to be drained out through the vent. This phase is called post infusion stage and has major influence on the quality of the part and production time. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to provide semi-analytical solution for resin pressure distribution, fiber volume fraction and part thickness during resin infusion and post-infusion phases in vacuum assisted resin infusion. The results show that the post filling constitutes a major part of the total process time and optimizing this stage can reduce the resin waste and process time and improve the composite part thickness uniformity.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 1150)
• Pages: 27-32
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-57nKYE
• Online since: June 2025
• Authors: Ahmed Ouezgan*, Mouhssine Chahbouni, Said Boutahari, Abdelghani Saouab, Aziz Maziri, El Hassan Mallil, Jamal Echaabi
• Keywords: Post-Infusion Stage, Semi-Analytical Solution, Thickness Uniformity, VARI Process

References

[1] Lionetto F, Moscatello A, Totaro G, Raffone M, Maffezzoli A. Experimental and Numerical Study of Vacuum Resin Infusion of Stiffened Carbon Fiber Reinforced Panels. Materials 2020;13:4800.

DOI: 10.3390/ma13214800

[2] Sozer EM, Simacek P, Advani SG. Resin transfer molding (RTM) in polymer matrix composites. Manuf. Tech. Polym. Matrix Compos. PMCs, Elsevier; 2012, p.245–309.

DOI: 10.1533/9780857096258.3.243

[3] Okabe T, Oya Y, Yamamoto G, Sato J, Matsumiya T, Matsuzaki R, et al. Multi-objective optimization for resin transfer molding process. Compos Part Appl Sci Manuf 2017;92:1–9.

DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2016.09.023

[4] Han SH, Cho EJ, Lee HC, Jeong K, Kim SS. Study on high-speed RTM to reduce the impregnation time of carbon/epoxy composites. Compos Struct 2015;119:50–8.

DOI: 10.1016/j.compstruct.2014.08.023

[5] Van Oosterom S, Allen T, Battley M, Bickerton S. An objective comparison of common vacuum assisted resin infusion processes. Compos Part Appl Sci Manuf 2019;125:105528.

DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2019.105528

[6] Ouezgan A, Mallil EH, Echaabi J. Manufacturing routes of vacuum assisted resin infusion: Numerical investigation. J Compos Mater 2022;56:3221–36.

DOI: 10.1177/00219983221111492

[7] Lopatnikov S, Simacek P, GillespieJr J, Advani SG. A closed form solution to describe infusion of resin under vacuum in deformable fibrous porous media. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 2004;12:S191–204.

DOI: 10.1088/0965-0393/12/3/S09

[8] Correia NC, Robitaille F, Long AC, Rudd CD, Šimáček P, Advani SG. Analysis of the vacuum infusion moulding process: I. Analytical formulation. Compos Part Appl Sci Manuf 2005;36:1645–56.

DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2005.03.019

[9] Arulappan C, Duraisamy A, Adhikari D, Gururaja S. Investigations on pressure and thickness profiles in carbon fiber-reinforced polymers during vacuum assisted resin transfer molding. J Reinf Plast Compos 2015;34:3–18.

DOI: 10.1177/0731684414560220

[10] Ouezgan A, Adima S, Maziri A, Mallil EH, Echaabi J. Relaxation Compression Resin Transfer Molding Under Magnetic Field: Modelling and Numerical Investigation. Appl Compos Mater 2023;30:677–704.

DOI: 10.1007/s10443-023-10108-w

[11] Song YS, Youn JR. Numerical investigation on flow through porous media in the post‐infusion process. Polym Compos 2009;30:1125–31.

DOI: 10.1002/pc.20668

[12] Chung Hae Park, Saouab A. Analytical Modeling of Composite Molding by Resin Infusion with Flexible Tooling: VARI and RFI processes. J Compos Mater 2009;43:1877–900.

DOI: 10.1177/0021998309341848

[13] Bickerton S, Buntain MJ. Modeling forces generated within rigid liquid composite molding tools. Part B: Numerical analysis. Compos Part Appl Sci Manuf 2007;38:1742–54.

DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2006.11.001