Resin Infusion Under Flexible Tooling ( RIFT )

Abstract

The traditional processes for the manufacture of high performance composite shell structures are (i) vacuum bagging (VB)/VB with autoclave cure VB(A), (ii) resin transfer molding (RTM), and (iii) compression molding. Over recent years, there have been a number of novel “infusion” processes introduced, which span the gap between VB(A) and RTM. The new processes are known by a confusing set of names or acronyms—each company uses a distinct name, yet often the processes are near identical. The infusion processes can be mapped onto four distinct generic processes: Resin infusion in the plane of the fabric (Type I), Resin infusion with a flow medium/transport or distribution mesh (Type II), Resin film infusion (Type III), and Semipreg techniques (Type IV). This article describes the attributes of each of the four variants above and considers their relative advantages and issues.

Monomer Selection for In Situ Polymerization Infusion Manufacture of Natural-Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic-Matrix Marine Composites

“…RIFT [59][60][61][62][63]65] has become the process of choice for large and complex composite structures. RIFT is a set of vacuum-driven processes using one solid mold tool and a flexible counter-face tool or membrane.…”

“…RTM is viewed as an economical and efficient process with low styrene emission [58]. For larger structures, commercial manufacture of large structures uses (thermoset) resin infusion under flexible tooling (RIFT) [59][60][61][62][63], and the process is being adapted for (thermoplastic) monomer infusion under flexible tooling (MIFT). The hierarchy of processes is LCM > RTM > RIFT MIFT and the highest appropriate level in this list is used in the text below.…”

Liquid composite molding reproducibility in real-world production of fiber reinforced polymeric composites: a review of challenges and solutions

“…Liquid composite molding (LCM) is a family of manufacturing methods for fiber-reinforced polymeric composites (FRPC). It includes resin transfer molding (RTM), Wet Compression Molding, Resin Infusion under Flexible Tooling (RIFT), Structural Reaction Injection Molding (SRIM) and their respective variants [1]. The highest performance composites (e.g.…”

“…LCM methods dominate the manufacture of high-quality parts (parts with characteristics that conform with or are close to high performance standards with low to average cost [2]). Although a critical objective for LCM methods, high reproducibility, 1 has been reached in certain cases, (i.e. RTM), there is recent evidence that there is room for improvement with respect to reproducibility and accurate processing [3].…”

In-mould gel-coating of polymer composites: a review

“…aerospace components) are manufactured by vacuum bagging of prepreg with autoclave cure (Witik et al, 2012). More cost-effective components may be manufactured in a closed mould using compression moulding (Bhattacharyya, 1997;Lim and Ramakrishna, 2002;Long, 2007), resin infusion (Williams et al, 1996;Cripps et al, 2000;Summerscales and Searle, 2005;Beckwith, 2007;Summerscales, 2012) or resin transfer moulding (Kruckenberg and Paton, 1998;Rudd, 1997;Tucker and Dessenberger, 1994;Van Harten, 1993;Benjamin and Beckwith, 1999;Parnas, 2000;Potter, 1997). Each of these processes has the potential for the coating to be applied in the mould during the process to limit release of solvents to the atmosphere and improve the accuracy of the film thickness.…”