Wet Infusion or Prepreg?


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oekmont
oekmont
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Is the porosity on the outside? Can you get in the white spots with a needle? If so, it can be gelcoat. Gelcoat would be smooth on the outside. The little bubbles would be under the gelcoat.

Charles Woo
Charles Woo
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So you are saying, if it was infusion, the top clear layer would not look as thick.

A resin rich surface prepreg can have enough excess resin to mimic the look of having gloss gelcoat and may also bubble?

That would explain everything.

oekmont
oekmont
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Are we talking about infusion or about vacuum bagged parts? As I said above, I doubt the parts are vacuum bagged wet layup parts.
Infusion is a different thing. from the pictures I would say, that the outer resin layer is to thick for an infusion without gelcoat. Seems to me more like a resin rich surface prepreg. Such small bubbles at the corners could happen with both processes. If you use a special black polishing compound instead of a regular white, they should become almost invisible.
you could still test it with the heating method.
Usually prepreg is much more convenient for small parts, so i wonder why prepreg is significantly more expensive.



Charles Woo
Charles Woo
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Thanks for the reply. I am concerned about the bubbling and the overall weight. Also prepreg was considerably more expensive than wet infusion. So I want to know I am getting what I paid for.

Have you seen this type of bubbling on prepreg parts?
oekmont
oekmont
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I would say it doesn't matter way process is used. What matters is if you are pleased with the parts or not. Optically and physically.
However, watching the perfectly straight diagonals  I would absolutely believe that these parts are made from prepreg. It is difficult to keep perfect straight fibres with wet layup/vacuum compression.
If your  manufacturer got an autoclave he would be really stupid not to use prepregs anyway. In total the additional labour for wet layup outweighs the higher material cost and outoclave operating costs.
To be relatively sure, you could heat the parts up to 120°C and look it the become flexible. No standard laminating resin could take that temperature, but almost all autoclave resins can.


Charles Woo
Charles Woo
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I had these parts made for a project I am working on and the manufacturer claims they are 'autoclave dry carbon', which should mean pre-preg, but to my untrained eye it looks like regular vacuum bagged wet infusion. There are tiny bubbles along the edges and the outer clear resin layer seems thicker than what I would expect a pre-preg.

Are there any carbon experts out there that can help me identify what process they used to make these parts?

       
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