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Infusing on convex surface - fibre kinking
Infusing on convex surface - fibre kinking
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Grrrrrene
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Grrrrrene
posted 8 Years Ago
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I was wondering if anybody here has experience with using infusion on a convex mould (dome shaped). Anything I've produced so far is more or less flat or concave, which means that if you place the fibreglass material in the mould and apply the vacuum, the fibres will be stretched or remain in place. In the past I've seen issues with fibres kinking due to compression in moulds for pre-bent blades. The problem with a convex shape is that the distance from one side of the mould to the other side becomes smaller closer to the mould, which means that once you apply the vacuum, the glass fibres need to shorten and they simply won't do that, obviously. Instead of that, you get kinks in the fibres, weird creases in the fabric. This is very bad for the strength of the laminate and ruins the looks.
Are there any tips to avoid this kinking behavior? I have not tried this in practise yet, because I don't want to waste money, time and material on a
"let's see what happens" project ;-) I do however have an idea, but I'm not sure if that will work. My plan is to
apply the vacuum on the very top of the dome and have the resin runner around the base of the dome. That way the resin will spread nice and evenly around the base of the dome and start impregnation of the fabric all around the product, hopefully achieving a nice and level flow front. But as an added benefit I expect the glass to be pushed down first directly under the vacuum hose and continue to be compressed further down the dome until it reaches the runner. There the material is free to shift a bit without creating kinks.
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Infusing on convex surface - fibre kinking
Grrrrrene
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8 Years Ago
You haven't specified just how high the dome shape is, but I think it's key to make sure that your bag has enough slack in it to not pull and distort the fabric too much when pulling down. Clearly...
MarkMK
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8 Years Ago
For relatively shallow domes, you will be surprised how much you can tease the fabric, especially with looser woven cloths. Obviously there is a limit, and putting it under vacuum will compress the.....
Warren (Staff)
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8 Years Ago
We have several moulds with dimensions ranging from 300mm in diameter and a height of just under 100mm to a diameter of 5500mm and a height of 1350mm. I don't see much of a problem with the larger...
Grrrrrene
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8 Years Ago
Spray tacks are even easier with polyester compared to epoxy, as there are loads available that polymerise into the matrix and leave no trace on the surface. I've yet to find one that does it to the....
Hanaldo
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8 Years Ago
I use Cytec's Aerofix 3 with both 'bare' epoxy and in moulds with a polyester-based coating and it works great with both with little or no visible traces left behind If that's available where you ar...
MarkMK
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8 Years Ago
Yeh I've used Aerofix 3 in the past, but I've found it depends on the specific epoxy you are using. It worked well with the resin I used to use which was actually just a low viscosity hand laminating...
Hanaldo
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8 Years Ago
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