Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Continuous Permeability Measurement During Unidirectional Vacuum Infusion Processing, David Wayne Hoagland

Theses and Dissertations

Composite materials have traditionally been used in high-end aerospace parts and low-end consumer parts. The reason for this separation in markets is the wide gap in technology between pre-preg materials processed in an autoclave and chop strand fiberglass blown into an open mold. Liquid composite molding has emerged as a bridge between inexpensive tooling and large, technical parts. Processes such as vacuum infusion have made it possible to utilize complex layups of reinforcement materials in an open mold style set-up, creating optimal conditions for composites to penetrate many new markets with rapid innovation. Flow simulation for liquid composite molding is …