Resin Infusion

under Flexible Tooling

(RIFT)
John Summerscales
Advanced Composites Manufacturing Centre
School of Marine Science and Engineering -
University of Plymouth
Plymouth, PL4 8AA, United Kingdom
Outline of presentation

other manufacturing processes

four variants on resin infusion
advantages and disadvantages
applications using the process
notional cost comparisons
brief summary
Manufacturing processes
spray
hand lamination
hot press
Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM)
Resin Infusion under Flexible Tooling (RIFT)
vacuum bagging and autoclave cure
filament winding
pultrusion
Manufacturing processes
Resin transfer moulding (RTM)
long-range flow of resin into a dry fibre
pack preloaded into a defined mould
cavity.
Resin infusion (RIFT)
A range of intermediate techniques
Vacuum bagging and autoclave cure
wet resin or prepreg lamination followed by
bagging and cure under pressure
Change from hand lay-up
?
Increased consolidation pressure
1 atmosphere = full vacuum = 105 N/m2 (10 tonnes/m2)
Occupational Exposure Levels
Germany/Sweden 20 ppm
France/Spain50 ppm
United Kingdom 100 ppm
EU harmonisation via SPA recommendation for end 2013
Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999
styrene has an odour threshold of 0.034 ppm
i.e 630 g/m3
Why resin infusion ?

Resin transfer moulding (RTM)

as mouldings increase in size,
mould clamping forces become excessive
Vacuum bagging and autoclave cure
premium price for
pre-impregnation of reinforcements
long cycle times
capital cost of equipment
Resin infusion
Muskat patent application, 1945
the fibrous base to be impregnated
preferably in a substantially dry state
drive the resin into the base to impregnate it
one tube being connected to a source of resin
and the other to a vacuum pump
complementary moulds appear to be free to
move together under vacuum
process introduced to UK by Scott Bader in
1946
Acronym anarchy !
CIRTM: co-injection RTM
Crystic VI: vacuum infusion (Scott Bader)
DRDF: double RIFT diaphragm forming (University of Warwick)
LRI: liquid resin infusion
MVI modified vacuum infusion (Airbus)
* Quickstep * use of liquids for enhanced heat transfer in
infusion
RFI: resin film infusion
RIFT: resin infusion under flexible tooling (ACMC Plymouth)
RIRM: resin injection recirculation moulding
SCRIMP Seeman Composites Resin Infusion Molding Process (TPI)
VAIM: vacuum-assisted injection moulding
VAP vacuum assisted processing (patented by EADS)
VARI: vacuum assisted resin injection system (Lotus Cars)
VARIM: vacuum assisted resin injection moulding
V(A)RTM: vacuum (-assisted) resin transfer moulding
VIM: vacuum infusion moulding.
VIMP: vacuum infusion moulding process
VM/RTM Light: a hybrid RIFT/RTM (Plastech)
VIP: vacuum infusion process
Resin infusion

RTM with one tool face replaced by a

flexible film or a light splash tool
flow of resin results only from
vacuum and gravity effects
mould cavity varies with local
pressure
thickness of the part depends on
pressure history
Resin Infusion under
Flexible Tooling (RIFT 1 of 4)
Basic RIFT process:
resin flows in the plane of the fabric
between the mould and the bag

KEY

Resin Vacuum
feed Reinforceme
nt

slow process due to limited pressure gradient

Only good for
low fibre volume fraction/high loft fabrics
reinforcement with flow enhancement tows
RIFT 1:
slow flow in the process
Special fabrics
Commercial process needs flow-enhancing tows, e.g.
Brochier Injectex

Carbon fabrics from Carr Reinforcements

Glass fabrics experimental programme with Interglas-Technologies
Potential advantages
Process
use most resin systems.
use most forms of reinforcement fabrics.
large structural components can be fabricated.
relatively low tooling costs for high-performance components.
better than wet-laid components with little modification of
tooling.
heavy fabrics more easily wetted than by hand lamination.
lower material costs than for prepreg and vacuum bagging.
Potential advantages
Performance
higher fibre volume fraction gives improved mechanical performance.
minimal void content relative to hand lamination.
more uniform microstructure than hand lay-up.
cored structures can be produced in a single flow process.
hand-lamination resin infusion
Disadvantages
Process
complex process requires different skills to hand-lamination.
emphasis on preparation, not on the actual moulding
process.
sensitive to leaks (air paths) in the mould tool and the bag.
quality control of the resin mixing is "in-house".
slow resin flow through densely packed fibre
uneven flow could result in unimpregnated areas/scrap
parts.
not easily implemented for honeycomb core laminates.
Disadvantages
Performance
only one moulded surface
low resin viscosity means lower thermal and mechanical
properties.
thinner components have lower structural moduli
laminate thickness dependent on flow history (next slide)
licensing costs where aspects of the process patented in
the USA
Fabric compressibility in RIFT
A B C

2.2 mm

2.0 mm

1.8 mm
0 2000 4000 Time (s) 7500 11500

nine layers of plain weave E-glass/UPE resin

compression by vacuum
lubrication by resin front at A
relaxation as pressure gradient falls
resin inlet closed at C
Comparison of HL and RI
resins
SP resin systems hand lamination infusion
Ampreg 20 Prime 20
Property Units
Viscosity mPa.s 447 188
Tg (50C post-cure) C 85 86
Tensile strength MPa 83 74
RIFT vacuum forming
Known as
DRDF: Double RIFT Diaphragm Forming, or
RIDFT: Resin Infusion between
Double Flexible Tooling
dry fabric is placed between
two elastomeric membranes;
resin is infused into the fabric;
the sandwich is vacuum-formed
over the mould shape.
RIFT vacuum forming
NB: an alternative RIFT I route to complex shapes

RIDFT image from JR Thagard, PhD thesis,

Florida State University, 2003.
RIFT with flow medium
RIFT 2 of 4
A high permeability fabric
allows resin to flood one surface
followed by through-thickness flow
KEY
Resin feed
Reinforcement
Vacuum
Flow medium
commonly referred to as either:
V(A)RTM
Vacuum (assisted) resin transfer moulding
SCRIMPTM
Seeman Composites Resin Infusion Manufacturing Process
patented in the USA but prior-art exists in Europe
 EADS VAP process

Membrane = Gore Composite Manufacturing Membrane (GCM)

Image reproduced with permission from EADS

2m diameter CFRP sonar
dome

non-crimp carbon fibre fabric monolithic

composite
from 9 mm to 50 mm thick, Vf = 60%, Vv =
 CFRP catamaran forward beam
60v/o NCF (6000 x 300 x 50 mm)
Manufactured by Julian Spooner

Channel section to form box with

a second joggled moulding -
integral top hat supports

Web: 600gsm triax / 9mm balsa /

600gsm carbon triax
Flanges: 600gsm triax / 4mm
UD / 600gsm triax
Sicomin SR8100 resin system

Layup: 7 man hours,

Infusion: 25 minutes, 20C /
20mB
Postcure: 10h @ 50C
Manufactured by the
SCRIMPTM process

J-boats Poma-Otis mass transit

Images from www.tpicomp.com
Reitnouer flat bed trailer NABI 30-foot bus
Benefits of SCRIMP TM

Vosper Thornycroft state:

resin infusion into tows is independent of fabric weight.
reduced costs and greater efficiency in production:
fewer layers of heavier fabric
compared to 35 separate plies of
800 gsm woven roving glass used in hand lamination.
reduced component weight (up to 72% fibre by weight).
void content down from 5% by HL to <1% by SCRIMP TM.
increased laminate strength
due to the higher fibre fraction and reduced void content.
reduced styrene emissions and waste resin.
The NEG-Micon
40 m radius AL40
carbon-wood epoxy
wind turbine blade
Resin infusion
manufacturing process
developed with ACMC
Advanced Composite
Armoured Vehicle Platform
(ACAVP)
demonstrator manufactured by VARTM
reinforcement is quasi-isotropic
non-crimp E-glass fabric
bare hull weight is around 6000 kg

Image from http://www.janes.com/defence/land_forces/news/jdw/jdw010312_3_n.shtml

Civil engineering
structures
DML Composites rehabilitate
fractured structures for London
Underground
CFRP infusion
vs welded steel repair
London underground
~40K/day lost revenue
for closing the line between two stations
Offshore exploration and exploitation
~500K/day of crude oil through small
platform
need to drain down before hot work
(welding)!
Resin Film Infusion (RFI)
RIFT 3 of 4
B-stage prepreg resin film without
fibres
interleaved with reinforcement
or grouped film layers in dry laminate
KEY

Reinforcement
Vacuum
Resin film

unlike prepreg, there are air channels

within the bagged laminate
RFI (RIFT 3) for aerospace

T-beams, aileron skin, swaged wing rib, three-bay box

Kruckenberg et al , SAMPE J, 2001
fuselage skin panel for the Boeing 767 aircraft was
moulded as a demonstrator with integral stiffeners
Cytec 5250-4RTM bismaleimide resin (100 mPa.s at 100C)
880 x 780 mm woven 5-axis 3-D fabric preform
Uchida et al , SAMPE J, 2001
fuselage panels in TANGO Technology Application to the Near-
term business Goals and Objectives of the aerospace industry
skins will be non-crimp fabric preforms
integrated stringers to be triaxial braids with unidirectional
fibres
Fiedler et al, SAMPE J, 2003
Semi-preg infusion
RIFT 4 of 4
fabric partially pre-impregnated with resin
KEY

Reinforcement
Vacuum
Resin stripes

Commercial systems include

Cytec Carboform
resin impregnated random mat between the two fabric layers
Hexcel Composites HexFITTM
film of prepreg resin combined with dry reinforcements
SP Systems SPRINT: SP Resin Infusion New Technology
resin between two fabric layers
Umeco (ACG) ZPREG
resin stripes on one side of fabric
 Comparisons ( debateable! )

Flow
In-plane RFI Semi-preg
medium

Material costs
$ $ $$ $$$

Consumables
$ $$$ $$ $$

Process time

Quality


Summary
reviewed the four major variants of the
Resin Infusion under Flexible Tooling
process.
considered the application of these
techniques to the manufacture of large
composite structures.
recommend this route for the
manufacture of large composite
structures.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Higher Education Funding Council of England
(HEFCE) Development of Research for funding early
research into resin infusion
Christopher Williams and Jim Craen for their
respective contributions to the project.
David Cripps at SP Systems Limited for most helpful
discussions of an earlier version of this paper.
Paul Hill at DML Composites for permission to use
his Figure.
Use of trade names/trade marks in the text of this
chapter does not imply endorsement by the authors
of any specific product. Such descriptions are
provided simply in the interest of traceability.
Publication
The content this presentation has been
refereed and is published as
John Summerscales and TJ Searle
Low pressure (vacuum infusion)
techniques for moulding large composite
structures
in Proceedings of the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers Part L - Journal of
Materials: Design and Applications,
February 2005, L219(1), 45-58 .
Based on earlier PowerPoint

previously presented at:

Universiti Putra Malaysia, Bangi, Sept 2004
Imperial College London, Dec 2004
SAMPE out-of-autoclave symposium, Feb 2005
Forum for Plastkompositter Norway, Nov 2005
Composite Innovations Barcelona, Oct 2007
ICMAC Belfast, March 2009
RINA London, February 2010
SWCG Plymouth, September 2012.
 .. to contact me
Dr John Summerscales
jsummerscales@plymouth.ac.uk
http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/jsummerscales
School of Engineering
Reynolds Building RYB 008
University of Plymouth
Devon PL4 8AA England
01752.5.86150
01752.5.86101