Manufacturing Technologies for Turbine Power Blades - Hybrid Anisotropic Materials for Wind Power Turbine Blades - page 100

Reusable rubber bag

Pressure
5-10 Psi

Prepreg
laminate

Form-tool

Pressure pump

Continuous molding process

Tank

FIGURE 4.6
Continuous.molding.process..(From.www.en_wikipedia.org/wiki/rotational_molding.)

The.prepregs.are.applicable.to.out-of-autoclave.and.the.curing.process.is.the.
same.used.in.SCRIMP.(Seeman's.composite.resin.infusion.molding.process):.
vacuum. by. pump. and. reusable. bags.. Fiberglass. and. carbon. is. preliminar-
ily.impregnated.with.epoxy.or.vinyl.ester.or.liquid.polymers..Then,.silicon.
bags.are.rapidly.itted.to.the.infusion.lines;.in.this.case,.they.are.only.itted.to.
vacuum.lines.and.bags,.which.improves.the.repeatability.of.the.process..For.
curing. process. and. cooling,. use. standard. air. lines.. Setup. time. and. process.
robustness.greatly.improve.when.using.molding.or.pultrusion.spar.caps.
The.continuous.molding.process.is.shown.in.Figure 4.6..Pressure.pumps.
insert. air. into. the. rubber/silicon. bag. and. pressurized. to. 5. to. 10. psi.. This.
creates.a.rubber.reusable.bag..This.pressure.is.compressed.into.a.laminate.
impregnated.package..After.10.min.,.pressure.is.released.and.the.process.is.
continuous.in.the.second.area. 24
After.installing.spar.caps.in.the.bottom.laminates,.we.use.hydraulic.power.
hinges.for.spin.top.laminates.on.bottom.laminates.(Figure 4.7)..Hinges.elim-
inate. lip. ixtures. bottom. and. top,. which. improves. accuracy. and. greatly.
reduces.assembly.time. 23,24

4.8 InfusionMoldingProcess

4.8.1 Introduction

Seeman.Composite,.Inc..(SCI).and.its.predecessor.TPI.Company.have.been.
involved. in. the. reinforced. plastics. industry. since. the. 1990s.. Bill. Seeman.