In the development stage, disposable and durable sensors can be easily introduced at various locations into the cavity to:
- Study the resin flow and its repeatability
- Optimise the filling scenario
- Calculate the permeability tensor necessary for accurate filling simulations especially for thick or complex components
- Record when resin entries and leaves the mould
- Check when the filling is done to start the heating ramp
- Check the viscosity rise to ensure the complete wet-out of the preforms
- Monitor the cure and optimise the temperature profile
- Optimise the cure profile
- Monitor and adjust the exotherm peak for thick structures
- Define process milestones using the sensors in order to use them at production
(bullets #6, #7, #8 and #9 refer also to the manufacturing with prepregs)
At certification stage, the use of Synthesites intelligent monitoring systems can:
- prove the process repeatability and part quality
- monitor several important processing parameters for processing traceability
- provide significant process parameters for quality control purposes
At production, the use of Synthesites intelligent monitoring systems can:
- Ensure that the quality of the resin (neat or in prepregs) meets the standards (mixing ratio or thermal ageing) before the start of the process
- Control the mould filling by opening and/or closing the appropriate inlet/outlet gates
- Check in real-time whether the resin flow pattern is as planned
- Check when the filling is over to start the heating ramp
- Check the viscosity rise to ensure that the injection time is adequate
- Check the viscosity drop during heating to apply pressure
- Monitor the cure and optimise the temperature profile
- Simulate in real-time and control the exotherm peak for thick structures
- Prove repeatability and provide online part quality certification
- Monitor many important parameters for process traceability
- Calculate process parameters for quality control purposes
- Adjust the optimised process cure cycle in real-time according to sensors’ feedback
(bullets #6 to #12 refer also to manufacturing with prepregs)