Impact of Processing Parameters and Tapering of Injection Chamber Walls in Resin Injection Pultrusion
This study seeks to improve the wet-out and thus the quality of the pultruded part in the tapered injection pultrusion process. Complete wet-out of the dry fibre reinforcement by the liquid resin depends strongly on the processing parameters. Process parameters modelled were: fibre pull speed, fibre volume fraction and resin viscosity. In this work a 3-D finite volume technique was developed to simulate the flow of polyester resin through the glass rovings. The results show the impact of the tapering of the injection chamber walls on the minimum injection pressure necessary to achieve complete fibre matrix wet-out and the resin pressure at the injection chamber exit. Important chamber design information is presented.