Abstract

A mold structure making it possible to conduct gap resin transfer molding (RTM), a method that reduces the internal pressure of the mold during molding of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) parts, using standard hydraulic pressing equipment with no position control function has been developed. Gas springs have been employed in order to maintain the necessary fixed gap in the mold from the vacuum process to the resin injection process. In addition, a specialized seal shape able to withstand both the negative pressure produced during the vacuum process and the positive pressure produced during the resin filling process was also developed. The results of gap RTM using a mold applying these technologies demonstrated that they made it possible to both realize reduced internal mold pressure and produce a good quality molded part even in the case of a large part (a lower dashboard).

References

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Author (organization or company)

• Hiroyuki KANNO（Automobile R&D Center）
• Hiroshi KIYOMOTO（Automobile R&D Center）
• Bungo NISHINO（Automobile R&D Center）
• Yohei KAJIURA（Automobile R&D Center）
• Takayuki TAKATSUKA（Automobile R&D Center）
• Masahiro ANZAI（Automobile R&D Center）
• Kohei MATSUMOTO（Automobile R&D Center）

Publication Information

Article of Honda R&D Technical Review Vol.30 No.1 (88 - 95)

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