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Making Your Own Prepregs

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 20:06:32 +0000

Composite materials that are used as reinforcements can be impregnated with resin ahead of time, are called prepregs. You use a prepreg in manufacturing different composite parts by cutting it out and laying it onto your mold, shaping as required. Since it has already been impregnated with resin, there are not any concerns with spreading the resin and curing agents on the dry materials while they are in the mold.

Pre-impregnated materials can be purchased from a composites supplier, or they can be made yourself. Woodward Aerospace shows us how.

Carbon Fiber Pipe Wrap Carbon Fiber can be used to wrap the outside or...

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Carbon Fiber Pipe Wrap

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 03:07:54 +0000

Carbon Fiber can be used to wrap the outside or the inside of pipelines as a way to reinforce and strengthen them. Carbon Fiber is lightweight yet extremely strong. It can be field-installed on pipelines that are clean and non-pressurized.

Repairs to pipelines can be extremely expensive if they need to be dug out of the ground, cut out, and replaced with new sections. This is time-consuming work requiring long shutdowns. Composites repairs can be accomplished by professionals that can access the work area and have a line that is non-pressurized and clean.

These carbon fiber reinforcements help to restore structural integrity that has been lost through age, damage, or other new design requirements. There are many advantages to repairing existing pipelines and other structures rather than replacement.

Interior repair from ABC 10 News in California demonstrates an interior pipeline repair:

An external pipeline repair is shown here in an instructional video. I do have a few concerns about the use of all of the unreinforced resin that is used to cover the carbon fiber wrap. I am not sure what the purpose there is, other than maybe to protect the carbon fiber from future damage.

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Custom Fiberglass Speaker Boxes

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:23:13 +0000

Fiberglass materials allow for custom shapes and features. A very popular Do It Yourself project is custom speaker boxes for automobiles.

To accomplish this, it is important to begin with a solid foundation material. Very often this is wood, which allows for screwing and stapling. Next, the speaker mounts need to be properly attached. Orientation of the mounting surface is established for the speaker that will be used in the finished installation.

Fleece fabric material is one method that is used to span the surfaces and transition across the different areas. This material allows for smooth transition, holds staples, is easy to work with, and is inexpensive. Once it is in place it can be covered with resin and fiberglass to establish a solid surface. This can be sanded smooth and painted for full effect.

WestCoastCustomsTV demonstrates how the fleece is applied in the video below:

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Aqua Stik Epoxy Repair

AKeson — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 14:57:10 +0000

Browsing Youtube, I found an interesting video on a repair Epoxy material by the name of Aqua Stick. I am not sure how it is available, but I am sure that you can search it on the internet.

It looks to be very user friendly, and has some very interesting potential applications in the arena of adhesive application and repair for underwater environments. No metering/measurement of the two parts is required, as they only require a kneading action to mix the two doughy components to uniform color.

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1992 GM Ultralite Concept Car

AKeson — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:14:18 +0000

I found a very interesting video demonstrating the 1992 GM Ultralite Concept Car. What a blast from the past!

This project, like all concept cars, was well before its time. They had some cutting-edge engineering that went into this vehicle to work towards several goals.

Reducing vehicle weight was important, so carbon fiber materials were utilized to decrease the weight of the body/chassis. Efficient drive-train options were also developed, including the use of two-cycle engines and battery power. Designing for great aerodynamics was also considered.

Many years have passed by, and some things were right on, some were not. Aerodynamics have been improved. Lighter weight materials have been used as composites have been working their way into vehicles, though it has been SMC/BMC reinforced with Fiberglass rather than Carbon Fiber.

Gull-wing doors have not been adopted for family cars, and I am not sure if I am disappointed or not.

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Carbon Fiber Repair Panel

Sun, 07 Nov 2010 17:31:14 +0000

I found a great video demonstrating the repair of a carbon fiber composite panel. The is is a carbon fiber reinforce epoxy structure that needs a localized repair to the core material. This repair uses a vacuum bagging process to help maintain a high-quality laminate.

The video is sped up to quickly demonstrate the overall process required. This process requires a high level of attention to details, as they are very important. Training and experience are necessary for good results.

Chemical adhesion between all of these layers will create a bond that is durable and suitable for restoring strength back to the structure.

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Cutting Epoxy/Fiberglass with Ring Saw

AKeson — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:25:15 +0000

Cutting and machining of cured composites parts can be challenging. Cured composites can wear cutting blades out very quickly. They are also very dusty when cut without using some sort of cutting fluid.

Many of these problems can be eliminated with the proper equipment. I found a very interesting video of a fiberglass-reinforced epoxy resin block being cut using a water-cooled ring saw. This saw is called the Revolution XT and it uses some neat technology to get a relatively quick and clean cut without making dust. It looks like it would also allow some good freehand movement to cut curves and angles in composites parts.

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Auto Racing Composites

AKeson — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:43:30 +0000

Roush Racing takes us viewers on a tour through their composites shop in a short clip from Roush TV.

Using mostly carbon fiber and kevlar reinforcements, Roush Racing fabricates many different components for the racing industry using epoxy resin systems. Ranging from the front noses for the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow car to drag racecar bodies and small ductwork, Roush Racing’s composites shop does all sorts of fabrication.

The race shop includes two different fabrication processes. Wet layup vacuum bagging is used for some parts, while others are made using prepreg material that goes into an autoclave.

The video tour is well done, and includes everything from the Eastman material cutter to the fabrication process, bagging process, and trim. We also get to see some of the finished parts after they are demolded and trimmed.

These parts are very expensive to manufacture, due to the high cost of materials and labor. Tooling and equipment costs for this type of process are somewhat reasonable, with the exception of the autoclave and the automated cutting table. Composites fabrication of this caliber is labor intensive, but can produce very unique parts that are lightweight and strong.

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Infusion-Test Panel and Fuselage

AKeson — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:20:01 +0000

Ran across an interesting Youtube video demonstrating an epoxy resin infusion process on some test panels and fuselage. It is interesting how everybody has their own terminology and technique for resin infusion. There is definitely more than one way to get the job done.

They use an interesting layup, including lots of the Soric material. I have used this before, and it is a good material to infuse with. Made by a company called Lantor, it is a non-woven polyester material that acts as a core material. It appears that the folks in the video are using the SF grade Soric, which comes in several thicknesses.

An advantage of using Soric as a core is that it flows resin very well for infusion. It is easy to cut and handles well.

Disadvantages also abound. One of them is the possibility of print-thru on the surface of the laminate. Another is the negative effect on the structural properties of the laminate. This non-woven material does not have much crush resistance such as a balsa or foam material. A serious issue that I have found is the higher risk of delamination. Like any core, this material works by separating the two skin layers to create a sort of “I beam” effect. The problem is that this material is not inherently strong within itself. Though it does become saturated with resin during a proper infusion, it is not nearly as strong as glass or carbon fiber reinforcement.

As the video demonstrates, a proper resin infusion can look easy. With proper materials, practice, and knowledge it can be.

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NASA Composite Crew Module

AKeson — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:46:11 +0000

NASA, the space agency for the U.S. government, has investigated the use of advanced composites for use in future vehicle programs. The Composite Crew Module (CCM) has been designed and built as a travel vehicle for astronauts in future space programs to travel. Drawing parallels to the Apollo program, this module will be launched on a rocket and break away as a module.

This technology and material are undergoing testing and evaluation before it is officially accepted for the Orion program. As a partnership between government agencies and public companies, this technology aims to reduce weight and improve performance of the manned vehicles.
From NASA’s website “Led by the NESC, the project team is a partnership between NASA and industry, including design, manufacturing, and tooling expertise. Partners are civil servants from nine NASA Centers – ARC, DFRC, GRC, GSFC, JSC, JPL, KSC, LaRC, and MSFC; the Air Force Research Laboratories; and contractors from Alcore, Alliant Techsystems, Bally Ribbon Mills, Collier Corporation, Genesis Engineering, Janicki Industries, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. The CCM team operates in a virtual environment, electronically connecting participants across the country.”

This full-scale structure has strain gauges attached to monitor loads on the structure. It was announced on January 25 that it has passed a battery of stress tests to prove viability.

The structure appears to be made with carbon fiber materials, maybe with some graphite reinforcement and an epoxy resin system. Mention of aluminum honeycomb can be found in the online reading materials. The main pieces are autoclaved, while bonding of the large sections (upper and lower shells) is accomplished outside of the autoclave.

Composites technology is being developed for future space exploration structures and vehicles, and this is good news for the composites industry!

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