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Previous studies have shown how discontinuous resin formats can increase the robustness of Vacuum Bag Only (VBO) prepregs. Current formats of this discontinuous resin format, dubbed USCPreg, all rely on a discontinuous film being applied on a fiber bed using only pressure. However, efforts are currently being undertaken to apply the discontinuous resin to the fiber bed directly, without a separate filming step. These methods should allow broader and more diverse characteristics of the prepreg, and allow a reduction in bulk factor, customization of the resin distribution, and potentially enable the production of prepreg “on demand.” To understand how applying discontinuous resin to a dry fiber bed at temperatures suitable for resin deposition may affect the final distribution, small-scale experiments were conducted. A fluid with controlled viscosity, matching the viscosity of epoxy resin during hotmelt processing, was used to minimize variability. The experiments consisted of a sessile droplet of facsimile fluid being deposited on the surface of a single ply of reinforcement. The spread of the fluid was then recorded, using a goniometer as well as a standard camera. Post-processing of these recordings was performed to obtain the spreading of the fluid in three directions: in the plane directions and the out-of-plane direction. The fluid was constant, a 30Pa.s rheological standard, but the reinforcement was varied to determine how the fluid interacted with different reinforcements. Macro-scale changes, such as fabric weave and fabric areal weight, and micro-scale parameters, such as tow width and fiber size, were varied to observe their effects on fluid distribution. The experiments yielded maximum in-plane spread distance, time for the resin to fully impregnate into the fibers, and aspect ratio of spreading, particularly for non-symmetric weaves. The results can be used to guide how the resin is deposited on different reinforcements, in order to achieve a resin distribution that will consistently yield high-quality parts. In addition, it is possible these observations can be applied to resin flow in standard continuous film prepreg, such as predicting the final degree of impregnation. 

Previous studies have shown how discontinuous resin formats can increase the robustness of Vacuum Bag Only (VBO) prepregs. Current formats of this discontinuous resin format, dubbed USCPreg, all rely on a discontinuous film being applied on a fiber bed using only pressure. However, efforts are currently being undertaken to apply the discontinuous resin to the fiber bed directly, without a separate filming step. These methods should allow broader and more diverse characteristics of the prepreg, and allow a reduction in bulk factor, customization of the resin distribution, and potentially enable the production of prepreg “on demand.” To understand how applying discontinuous resin to a dry fiber bed at temperatures suitable for resin deposition may affect the final distribution, small-scale experiments were conducted. A fluid with controlled viscosity, matching the viscosity of epoxy resin during hotmelt processing, was used to minimize variability. The experiments consisted of a sessile droplet of facsimile fluid being deposited on the surface of a single ply of reinforcement. The spread of the fluid was then recorded, using a goniometer as well as a standard camera. Post-processing of these recordings was performed to obtain the spreading of the fluid in three directions: in the plane directions and the out-of-plane direction. The fluid was constant, a 30Pa.s rheological standard, but the reinforcement was varied to determine how the fluid interacted with different reinforcements. Macro-scale changes, such as fabric weave and fabric areal weight, and micro-scale parameters, such as tow width and fiber size, were varied to observe their effects on fluid distribution. The experiments yielded maximum in-plane spread distance, time for the resin to fully impregnate into the fibers, and aspect ratio of spreading, particularly for non-symmetric weaves. The results can be used to guide how the resin is deposited on different reinforcements, in order to achieve a resin distribution that will consistently yield high-quality parts. In addition, it is possible these observations can be applied to resin flow in standard continuous film prepreg, such as predicting the final degree of impregnation. 

Discontinuous resin distributions facilitate transverse air removal in vacuum bag-only prepregs during out-of-autoclave processing, and enable robust manufacturing. Methods to create discontinuous resin distributions with various pattern types and feature sizes have been demonstrated in recent reports. However, this new capability has expanded the design space for prepreg manufacturing, and optimum pattern characteristics have not been identified. In this work, a geometric model was developed to simulate prepregs and laminates with discontinuous resin distributions of various pattern type, feature size, stacking orientation, and ply count. Key metrics were employed to explore the capacity for air evacuation at room temperature. In particular, the projected surface area exposed was calculated to examine the fraction of uninhibited transverse air evacuation pathways. Secondly, sealed interfaces corresponding to the percentage of closed interlaminar regions within laminates were estimated. Finally, the tortuosity (the ratio of actual average gas transport path to straight-line path) of the dry pore network was calculated. A full factorial design, analyzed by n-way ANOVA and multi-comparison tests, was conducted to reveal the aspects of prepreg designs having the greatest influence on these metrics. Finally, these insights were used to fabricate prototype prepregs and experimentally measure their transverse permeability. Results revealed that a large number of sealed interfaces and high tortuosity were associated with lower permeability, indicating that these metrics can be used to screen resin patterns using the developed model. Broadly, the results validated a methodology to differentiate between discontinuous resin patterns with regards to air evacuation of the prepreg at room temperature, and therefore reduce the design space. Ultimately, this work can be used to guide prepreg design and to support manufacturing of high-quality composites by out-of- autoclave methods.