Newly developed rubber pressure molding technique for fabrication of composites

Abstract

A new manufacturing method, i.e., rubber pressure molding (RPM) for processing of long fiber/fabric-reinforced polymer composites having complex geometry, is developed. Studies are conducted for performance evaluation of the newly proposed RPM using silicone, natural, polybutadiene, and styrene-butadiene rubbers. Polyester and epoxy resin are used with glass fiber fabric to manufacture the fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) products.