A Review of Thermoplastic Resin Transfer Molding: Process Modeling and Simulation

Abstract

The production and consumption of polymer composites has grown continuously through recent decades and has topped 10 Mt/year. Until very recently, polymer composites almost exclusively had non-recyclable thermoset matrices. The growing amount of plastic, however, inevitably raises the issue of recycling and reuse. Therefore, recyclability has become of paramount importance in the composites industry. As a result, thermoplastics are coming to the forefront. Despite all their advantages, thermoplastics are difficult to use as the matrix of high-performance composites because their high viscosity complicates the impregnation process. A solution could be reactive thermoplastics, such as PA-6, which is synthesized from the ε-caprolactam (ε-CL) monomer via anionic ring opening polymerization (AROP). One of the fastest techniques to process PA-6 into advanced composites is thermoplastic resin transfer molding (T-RTM). Although nowadays T-RTM is close to commercial application, its optimization and control need further research and development, mainly assisted by modeling. This review summarizes recent progress in the modeling of the different aspects of the AROP of ε-CL. It covers the mathematical modeling of reaction kinetics, pressure-volume-temperature behavior, as well as simulation tools and approaches. Based on the research results so far, this review presents the current trends and could even plot the course for future research.

Thermoplastic Pultrusion: A Review

“…In the reactive pultrusion process, preheated unimpregnated fiber is fed into the heated die block where fiber impregnation and polymerization of matrix take place (in situ polymerization), and the polymerized matrix has properties of thermoplastic melt [ 40 ]. The following polymers are typically used in the RIM pultrusion: polycarbonates (PC), polyesters (PE), polyurethanes (PU), polymethylmethacrylates (PMMA), and polyamides (PA) (in particular, PA-6 synthesized from ε-caprolactam (ε-CL) monomer) [ 138 ]. Figure 3 shows a schematic illustration of the RIM pultrusion die block [ 139 ].…”

A New Vacuum Pressure Infiltration CFRP Method and Preparation Experimental Study of Composite

“…The device design value is 119.6 mm, which is less than 535.83 mm, so it passes the bending stress check. The total power required for the electric heating device of the mold can be calculated by Equation (7).…”

“…In the existing preparation methods of CFRP, the RTM process can form complex and high-precision components, and it has the advantages of high preparation efficiency, low pollution, and strong process adaptability [7,8]. However, when the fiber volume fraction is high, there are some disadvantages such as a poor infiltration effect, high product porosity, and bad real-time controllability.…”

Star-Branched Polyamides as the Matrix in Thermoplastic Composites

“…The use of thermoplastic matrices in the manufacturing of composites has been recently discussed in the literature to increase process rates [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. These matrices can melt and solidify in very short times, which translate into very low cycle times and greater economic profitability.…”