The resin transfer moulding (RTM) process is well established for low volume manufacturing applications and has recently gained lots of interest for manufacturing higher volumes. The scaling up of the manufacturing volume of the RTM process is particularly of interest for the automotive sector to manufacture light weight structural components.
However the RTM process is currently limited by the low volume production capacity of the preforming processes, long impregnation time and lack of robust processing equipments which hinders the use of RTM process for continuous manufacturing of the components.
The current technology offer is based on recent developments in the RTM process of a trilateral collaboration between two innovative German companies and a well-known German research organisation.
One company has developed a setup for the continuous manufacturing of the dry fibre preforms. For the high speed infiltration of the dry fibre preforms, the second company has developed highly flexible automated injection equipment consisting of the self cleaning mixing head. The RTM injection equipment allows high-pressure mixing of the resin components and meter them against a cavity pressure even at extreme mixing ratios and viscosities. The technologies developed by the two companies are being implemented at the research organisation. As an applied R&D institute in this cooperation the research organisation will be implementing innovative solutions such as chemical stitching of the reinforcing fibres, high pressure and compression RTM processing concept and microwave assisted RTM processing for the industrial scale and high speed manufacturing of the RTM prototype components.
The three cooperation partners offer the design and turn-key installation of completely new automated high-throughput production lines for (carbon) fibre reinforced polymer parts, based on advanced high-pressure resin transfer moulding (RTM) technology. Partners sought are manufacturers interested to expand in this new and challenging field of mass producing low-weight, high-strength (carbon) fibre reinforced polymer parts, e.g. for the automotive industry.
Innovative Aspects:
Advantages of High Pressure RTM:
Rapid mould filling
Improved impregnation quality
Accelerated resin reactivity system can be applied short cycle time
Significant reduction of air entrapments and voids
Excellent surface properties
Low tolerance in thickness and 3D shape
High process stability and repeatability
Use of internal release agent self cleaning system
