Experimental Study to Illustrate Flow Control in Presence of Race Tracking Disturbances in Resin Transfer Moulding

Abstract

To manufacture composite parts with the Resin Transfer Moulding process, a fluid resin is injected into a mould containing a fibrous preform. Often, due to variations in the preform structure, the flow behaviour can be drastically different from what was anticipated, which may not wet some of the fibrous regions causing dry spots. A common disturbance is race tracking, where the preform does not fit precisely along the mould edge. With the help of sensors, one can track the flow and measure the level of the disturbance in the mould. Decisions can be made on-line to re-direct the flow to avoid dry spots. A methodology was developed to measure the level of the race tracking and implement control actions to compensate for that race tracking disturbance. Fully automated experiments were run several times. For each experiment, although the level of race tracking was unknown beforehand, the controller properly compensated for the race tracking to successfully complete the mould filling.