At composites manufacturing in the unlikely event that a two-component injection machine for various reasons injects almost or only one of the two components, the burden for the operators and the productivity is huge. Using our process monitoring systems it is possible to avoid this situation. The identification of the mixing ratio/quality has been based on the fact that in two-component resins there is a significant difference in the resistance between the two components e.g. Epoxy/hardener (figure below) or Polyol/Isocyanate. Using OptiMold with the appropriate inline or pot sensors for measuring resin’s resistance and temperature, the mixing ratio deviations or the bad mixing quality of the two components can be identified in real-time.

The smaller mixing ratio or mixing quality deviations can be identified during curing in the mould with the higher or the lower reaction rates than normal. As can be seen in the figure below the use of higher or lower than normal hardener ratio may lead to higher or lower reaction rates, so it is possible to control the curing time based on these measurements.