CHINESE
New Bright Carbon Fiber Products Co., Ltd
RTM Resin Transfer Molding-1
The introduction of the RTM Light process, as originally adopted in France as the “ECO” process which was a process developed as an environmentally friendly low cost closed molding process, which is well suited for low production volume as so common in the European community. This ECO process was built on the design features of a light weight “see through” upper mold half. Once this tool design and process method was introduced here in North America the name was recognized as the RTM Light process. The primary promoter of this process in North America has been Chomarat company from France as a means to advance the growth of the closed molding processes and the use of their fiberglass reinforcement ROVICORE, so much of the thanks is owed to Chomarat for their efforts in bringing the RTM Light innovation to North America.
While the advantage of seeing through the mold allows the molder to actually “see” the resin flow during the injection process, which speaks volumes in advancing the understanding of just how the resin actually fills the mold, it does so at a price.
In order to see the resin we must build the upper from clear gel-coat, initially this was a MAJOR stumbling block for the RTM Light process as the original clear tooling gel-coats were very rigid and crack very easily. Recent innovations from the gel-coat suppliers has dramatically improved this concern, yet the clear gel-coats still do not perform as well as the more conventional solid color tooling gel-coats. Further, the laminate of the see through upper, must be generally no greater in thickness then 3/16″ (~.180″ or 4.5mm) in order to still maintain the clarity needed to see the resin flow. Tooling of this thickness will perform well for very low to low volume production especially on generally flat shapes. Yet, complex shapes, especially those with solid core materials require a molding staff who pays CAREFULL attention to detail, in order to prevent the mold from being damaged during the molding process.
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