When infusion goes bad!


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FLD
FLD
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After many years vac-bagging and avoiding infusion I was tempted to try it after some gentle persuasion.  Freakin' awesome!  Not hard and great results.  Yay!

However, I recently made a booboo.  Infusing a 1.2m x 0.2m part; 4x200g with 6x200g in places; peel ply, mesh, bag.  I opened the inlet clamp and it seemed to stick.  A little jiggle and the resin shot through, not all the way but a good chunk was done in about 20 sec.  Bugger!  Let it flow at a more sensible rate to finish up.  I let a little more flow in on completion but as expected its pinhole-tastic on the fast bit.  Is there any contingency for things like this, ie should I have let more resin flow through or is it a once the damage is done thats it?

If there's a fix it would be good to have a list of problems and solutions.
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Hanaldo
Hanaldo
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A lot of it will depend on the resin and consumables each of us are using. I've tried several techniques, and the way I described above is what works best for me and yields the best results with what I'm using. As with anything composites, you should always try different combinations and then stick with what works for you. 

My argument for not slowing the infusion is that pressure differential is the driving force behind infusion. By not fully opening the clamp, you are reducing the pressure on the inlet side, which creates a longer pressure drop along the resin front, so any air there expands further and creates voids. 

You do raise a valid point with varying thicknesses. If you've got too many varying thicknesses then this can cause resin starvation issues if you infuse too fast. Like you, I try to taper the layers, though I'm not convinced that it is because the resin tries to take the path of least resistance. I use perforated release film over the top of my peel ply, and if the path of least resistance were an issue then the resin would surely flow through the mesh and over the release film, leaving a resin starved laminate. 
GO

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