Co-authors​ :

 Joseph SOLTAN (UNITED KINGDOM), Hartley JAMIE , James KRATZ (UNITED KINGDOM), Janice M. DULIEU-BARTON (UNITED KINGDOM) 

Liquid composite molding is favoured as a low cost, highly scalable alternative to traditional autoclave manufacture particularly when larger parts are considered. However, original equipment manufacturers are often faced with a lack of repeatability when adopting infusion processes due to variation in wet-out patterns. Furthermore, once a component is manufactured damage may occur in storage, transit or end use resulting in costly repair or scrap decisions. Uncertainty during manufacture phases as well as limited and highly invasive repair options can prevent the implementation of composite solutions and negatively influence their sustainability characteristics. In this work an optimised infusion procedure is presented which minimises process variation by segmenting a component into discrete elements using resin barrier films. These discreet elements grant favourable and repeatable wet-out of the component while considered barrier film material selection brings additional functionality throughout a component’s lifecycle. X-ray computed tomography (XCT) is employed to validate the de-risking capability of resin barrier film modular infusion on a geometrically complex rib structure. Furthermore, T-stiffener pull-off testing quantifies the influence of resin barrier films on the mechanical integrity of components. XCT assessment demonstrates a decrease in void frequency and magnitude regardless of production challenges arising from leaking inlets. T-stiffener pull-off testing reveals equivalent properties between barrier film and vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM) samples. In addition, resin barrier film samples exhibited more predictable failure modes and performance envelopes than VARTM counterparts. Such predictable failure led to further advancement of modular infusion resin barrier films which allow for localised repair enabled by an emerging class of materials known as vitrimers. Selection and targeted placement of vitrimer barrier films allowed exchangeable vitrimer cross-links to be leveraged granting a localised repair methodology. Short beam shear as well as T-stiffner pull-off testing yielded comparable properties between healable vitrimer film samples and VARTM samples, furthermore, no degradation of properties was found after repeated healing cycles. This work demonstrates that the adoption of resin barrier film modular infusion approaches grants additional functionality enhancing the complete component lifecycle encompassing de-risking of liquid composite molding processing, enablement of additional in-fiend repair options and improved disassembly upon decommissioning which allows parts of a structure to be reclaimed for reuse or reprocessing.