Advanced guide - Working with pre-pregs


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mawgan
mawgan
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I am new here and have had a quick look through the forums and on the easy composites website/videos and I have yet to see any real advanced techniques shown (please correct me if I'm wrong and there is in fact advanced tutorials somewhere that state the techniques that I am referring to).

I have personally had over 10 years experience working with all aspects of advanced composites and the family run company that I own has been in the business for over 30 years. We have worked mostly in marine but have covered all aspects along the way from F1 through to aerospace.

I thought that I would list just a few things here and people can maybe carry this on and extend any knowledge/tips they may have learnt along the way.

To start with, no matter what composite project you are working on, it is all in the preparation, it is the most important thing. I.e, cutting materials correctly and all consumables ready to go before you even think about getting started. Working cleanly is also very important and something you learn working professionally within the industry. I will post some of my top tips of preparation and working cleanly later on this thread.

For now a couple of advanced pre-preg tips:

Spike rollers - I have not seen these listed anywhere on this forum or the main site, if you do not know what I refer to, it is basically a roller with spikes sticking out. It is important to spike roller each layer of pre-preg that you put down in the stack as this creates small holes within the otherwise solid resin structure for any air pockets to escape during debulking.

Debulking - As a general rule of thumb you should always debunk every 2 layers, along with the spike roller this gets rid of air pockets trapped in the stack and helps 'set' the pre-preg in place as you go.

Breather tows - A breather toe is simple a short tow of fibreglass placed around the edge of the laminate (in the area to be trimmed), you should place one tow roughly every 250-500mm for large panels/mouldings and smaller distances apply for smaller jobs. This is more important with infusion and Sprint system pre-pregs as it enables the air to escape more easily between layers but also applies to pre-preg as well if you want to do a professional job.

Pre-preg curing - I have had a quick look through the easy composites pre-preg offering and was surprised to find fairly basic information regarding the resin systems used and the cure process. Not anywhere mentioned is the recommended ramp rate for cure which is extremely important. As a general rule of thumb anywhere from 0.3C to 2C per minute is acceptable but this really depends on the application and should be specified by the manufacturer. Ramp rates allow the resin to flow correctly eliminating pin holes and voids and it allows the cured resins tg1 to stay ahead of the 'cure'.

Dwell times - A dwell is a temperature hold for a set period of time in order for the stack and mould to catch up with the rest of the cure, this all depends on the oven and should be analysed using oven test before curing any pre-preg. Once you have learnt your oven you can apply this to all future cures and can set an appropriate dwell time.

That concludes just a few things that I have noticed were never mentioned thus far. I am working on a very detailed pre-preg guide which will include many tips and goes into extreme detail in order to achieve results seen in the most advanced racing yachts/f1/aerospace applications. Please let me know if you are interested in this.

Please feel free to add any other advanced suggestions on working with pre-pregs and I will post more up when I have time.

Thanks and I hope this helps anyone interested.
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morepower
morepower
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TomDesign (25/08/2013)
Any images of your construction autoclave? so can imagine all that stuff connected ? that would help a lot to get and visible idea!


OK no photo of the oven I am using at the moment but to be honest the part I am making is quite small and I dont need a large space so I am just using two card board boxes inside each other to make a double thickness wall and a card divider down the center. Plus a box lid that I can use as a door and somewhere for air to vent and circulate round the box. The divider just allows air to flow round in one direction and not just blow to the bottom of the box and cause turbulence. I will get a photo when I have finished the part tomorrow..

Here is the part just so you get an idea when I tell you where I placed the themometer to check the part temperature as it cooks.


Here is my basic controller. I have wired in a 6 way extension lead so I can run a couple of things from it if I need to use a couple of heaters. 

The thermocouple probe is wired into the controller and these have their own power supply. 

The extension lead has a seperate power supply going through the box and into a Solid state relay. So the box has two plugs on the for power.. You can see three cables in the photo with the 6 way extension two top right and one bottom right. The two top right are power in. The thinner black cable just to power the controller and the white thicker cable to power the heaters and go through the Solid state relay.  The bottom right cable is power out to the 6 way extension. 


Here it is in use.. I set the controller at 65 degrees to get the pre-preg up to the lower flow temperature and let the heater (in this case a cheap hair drier). I placed the probe thermo couple at a point about mid way up and front to back in the side where the part is to be cooked (NOT the side which has the heat being blown directly into the box oven.) 

I also taped my wireless meat thermometer to the outside of the part along the inner straight edge at the bottom edge of the part. As you can see the oven is up to 65 Degrees and after a period of heat soak the part is also at exactly 65 degrees too.... It works very well for small parts and as I can plug anything into the extension I can run one or two hair driers or a 3kw fan heater ect.. I can run any combination of heater up to the rated 30amp plug and cable will allow as the Solid state relay is rated at 40amps too.. My limit is the rating of the power cable and my power supply to the box.  
Edited 12 Years Ago by morepower
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