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 

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 layers down, making it more likely for excess fibre to bunch up and cause a crease.

Running your spiral around the base is a good idea as when infusing, the area around the resin feed and the spiral will have less vacuum and the bag can feel loose.  This might allow the fabrics to move around a little bit more thus reducing the likely hood of it creasing up.


Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant