material design - discuss advantages and disadvantages of (a) vs. (b) Question #

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material design - discuss advantages and disadvantages of (a) vs. (b)

Question #3 (3 points) Consider the fabrication of the handle for a composite oar for a kayak from a carbon- and glass fiber-reinforced epoxy material. The carbon and glass fibers need to be continuous and oriented in the proper directions. The available processes are (a) hand lay-up of prepreg/vacuum bagging/autoclave and (b) vacuum assisted resin transfer molding. Please discuss their advantages and disadvantages for this application in the form of a table for each process, with one column being the advantages and a second column being the disadvantages. CATARACT CARS

Explanation / Answer

Advantages:-

(1) Higher fiber content laminates can usually be achieved with standard wet lay up technique.

(2) Better fiber wet out due to pressure and resin flow throughout the structural fibres with excess into bagging material.

(3) Low void contents are achieved.

(4) The vacuum reduces the amount of volatiles emitted during the process.

Disadvantages:-

(1) Higher level of skill is required by the operator.

(2) Mixing and control of resin is still largely controlled by operators skill.

(3) The extra process adds costs for labour and disposable material.

Advantages:-

(1) The process is very efficient.

(2) Suitable for complex shapes

(3) High fibre volume laminates can be obtained with very low void content.

(4) Both sides of the component have the molded surface hence the surface finish of the final product is good.

(5) Relatively low clamping pressure and ability to induce inserts.

(6) Better reproducibility.

Disadvantages:-

(1) Matched tooling is expensive and heavy in order to withstand pressure.

(2) Generally limited to smaller components.

Vacume bagging for composite oar Vacuum assisted resin transfer molding

Advantages:-

(1) Higher fiber content laminates can usually be achieved with standard wet lay up technique.

(2) Better fiber wet out due to pressure and resin flow throughout the structural fibres with excess into bagging material.

(3) Low void contents are achieved.

(4) The vacuum reduces the amount of volatiles emitted during the process.

Disadvantages:-

(1) Higher level of skill is required by the operator.

(2) Mixing and control of resin is still largely controlled by operators skill.

(3) The extra process adds costs for labour and disposable material.

Advantages:-

(1) The process is very efficient.

(2) Suitable for complex shapes

(3) High fibre volume laminates can be obtained with very low void content.

(4) Both sides of the component have the molded surface hence the surface finish of the final product is good.

(5) Relatively low clamping pressure and ability to induce inserts.

(6) Better reproducibility.

Disadvantages:-

(1) Matched tooling is expensive and heavy in order to withstand pressure.

(2) Generally limited to smaller components.

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