Resin Infusion

Dry fabric layers are laid into the mould and held into contact with the mould and other fabric layers by an adhesive spray-glue or by other techniques. The dry stack of fabric is then covered with peel ply and a vacuum bag, thereafter vacuum is applied and the resin is allowed to flow through the dry fabric stack.

The resin infusion process produces high quality composite components with fibre-volume fractions of approx. 55 % and results in mechanical properties similar to those of out of autoclave prepreg components. Like with prepregs, components have one moulded finish. The production process is most suitable for low to medium volumes and for large components. Compared to the RTM process the mould costs are significantly lower. Thick dry fabrics of 1000 to 2500 gsm can be infused which reduces the cutting and lay-up time significantly compared to the prepreg process as the prepreg thickness is limited. The resin infusion process allows for the use of performs which can increase the cycle time considerably and hence reduce per unit tooling costs.