Study of resin flow in carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites by means of pressure sensors

Abstract

This paper presents an evaluation of resin flow in carbon fiber reinforced polymer by means of small embedded pressure sensors. High-quality carbon fiber reinforced polymer parts require entire impregnation of fibers with resin before resin curing starts. Small piezo-resistive pressure sensors are used to measure the vacuum hold and to track resin flow and pressure elevation inside the composite part. The sensors are placed at different locations in the fiber stacks. Real-time pressure changes are obtained inside the laminate during infusion. To reduce the size of the embedded sensing element, the sensor dies are flip-chipped on a thin printed circuit board. The two component thermoset resin (RIM 035 c) and uni-directional carbon fiber with the alignment of 30° are used in a complex-shaped mold. The result shows that the flip-chipped piezo-resistive pressure sensors can be used in conductive fibers to monitor resin arrival and pressure development in vacuum assisted resin transfer molding infusion processes. The sensors are supplied by a constant current source to compensate the sensitivity reduction if the temperature changes in the curing process.

Keywords

Pressure sensor flip-chip re-flow soldering gold stud bumps resin flow monitoring carbon fiber reinforced polymer vacuum assisted resin transfer molding composite manufacturing

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