JP6591191B2 - Impregnation test equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an impregnation test apparatus for evaluating the impregnation behavior prior to product production by the RTM molding method.

  For example, one of methods for forming a fiber reinforced resin (FRP) by impregnating an impregnated material such as carbon fiber with an impregnating solution such as a resin is an RTM (Region Transfer Molding) molding method. In this RTM molding method, an article to be impregnated that has not been impregnated with an impregnating liquid is placed in a mold (referred to as a preform) and then placed in a mold, and then the resin is pressurized and injected into the preform. This is a method of impregnation, and is used when, for example, molding an FRP that forms a hood part of an automobile.

  Here, the behavior of impregnation of the impregnating liquid into the impregnated material depends on changes in the impregnation conditions such as the injection pressure of the impregnating liquid and the cover factor value of the impregnated material (the ratio of the fiber area to the unit area of the impregnated material). Since it changes greatly, in order to obtain a molded article of good quality, it is necessary to impregnate under appropriate impregnation conditions. Therefore, the behavior of the impregnation behavior is predicted by the simulation means before the molded article is actually formed, and the impregnation is performed under the optimum impregnation conditions obtained from the prediction.

  Here, the prediction by the simulation means naturally needs to have high accuracy, but an impregnation coefficient measuring device (impregnation test device) as shown in Patent Document 1 is used to demonstrate that the accuracy is high. By performing the impregnation test with this impregnation test apparatus and comparing the obtained impregnation behavior with the impregnation behavior predicted by the simulation means, the accuracy of the prediction by the simulation means can be evaluated.

  FIG. 6 is an example of an impregnation test apparatus. As shown in the top view of FIG. 6A, the impregnation test apparatus 90 includes a main body portion 91 having a concave portion 94 and an upper lid portion 92. Then, as shown in the front cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 6B, after placing the article to be impregnated in the recess 94, the article to be impregnated W is placed by placing the upper lid part 92 on the main body part 91. In this state, the impregnating liquid is impregnated into the article to be impregnated W through the supply port 95, the manifold 96, and the slit 97 by pumping the impregnating liquid from the liquid supply means 93 to the main body 91. At this time, the impregnation proceeds in the X-axis direction as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 6B. The impregnation speed is measured, and the result is compared with the impregnation behavior predicted by the simulation means.

JP 2007-269015 A

  However, the above-described impregnation test apparatus cannot accurately produce the impregnation behavior that can be compared with the result of prediction by the simulation means. Specifically, as shown by hatching in FIG. 7, the impregnating liquid R is not only inside the article W to be impregnated placed in the recess 94, but also in the body portion in the region outside the recess 94 (upper lid placing portion 98). A small gap between 91 and the upper lid portion 92, and a minute gap between the wall surface of the concave portion 94 and the end portion of the article to be impregnated W entered. When the resistance to the flow of the impregnating liquid R in these gaps is smaller than the resistance to the flow of the impregnating liquid R inside the article to be impregnated W, the progress of the impregnating liquid R in these gaps in the X-axis direction (impregnation direction). Therefore, the impregnation with the impregnating liquid R at the end in the Y-axis direction (width direction) of the article to be impregnated precedes that in the center part. . Therefore, even if the impregnation object W is impregnated by rectifying so that impregnation starts simultaneously in the width direction using the manifold 96 and the slit 97, as the impregnation progresses, for example, the position P1 shown in FIG. At the position P2, there is a difference in the progress of the impregnation with the impregnating liquid R, and there is a problem that an accurate impregnation speed cannot be obtained.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an impregnation test apparatus that can accurately evaluate the behavior of impregnation.

In order to solve the above problems, an impregnation test apparatus of the present invention includes a main body portion having a concave portion for placing a compressible article to be impregnated, an upper lid portion placed on the main body portion and covering the concave portion, Liquid supply means for supplying an impregnating liquid to be infiltrated into the recess, and the surface of the upper lid facing the main body is in contact with the object to be impregnated placed in the recess A compression member for compressing an object, and in the width direction that is a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the impregnation liquid proceeds in the recess, the compression member is in the state where the upper lid portion is placed on the main body portion. It is provided so that it may be located above the whole both ends of a recessed part.

  According to the above impregnation test apparatus, it is possible to suppress the progress of the impregnating liquid to the portion other than the article to be impregnated and accurately evaluate the impregnation behavior. Specifically, the compression member is further provided on the upper lid portion, and the compression member is provided so as to be positioned above both end portions of the recess in a state where the upper lid portion is placed on the main body portion. The compression member compresses the material to be impregnated when the upper lid portion is placed on the surface and the impregnation is performed. Since the flow resistance with respect to the impregnating liquid in the compressed portion is larger than the flow resistance of the other portions, the impregnating liquid easily flows in the impregnation direction. As a result, it is possible to prevent the impregnation liquid from flowing out into the gap between the both end portions of the article to be impregnated and the concave portion in the width direction, and it is possible to accurately evaluate the behavior of the impregnation.

  The impregnated material may be a fiber bundle.

  When the material to be impregnated is a fiber bundle, a gap is easily formed between the material to be impregnated and the recess when the material to be impregnated is placed in the recess. The gain obtained by is large.

  In addition, the compression member is formed of an elastic body, and the upper lid portion is located above the both ends of the recess and on the outer side of the both end portions in a state where the upper lid portion is placed on the main body portion in the width direction. And a region adjacent to each other.

  According to this configuration, since the minute gap generated between the main body portion and the upper lid portion can be closed by the compression member in a state where the upper lid portion is placed on the main body portion, the portion other than the object to be impregnated can be further closed. Progress of the impregnation liquid can be suppressed.

  According to the impregnation test apparatus of the present invention, the impregnation behavior can be accurately evaluated.

It is a top view which shows the impregnation test apparatus in one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the impregnation test apparatus of this embodiment in the state which accommodated the to-be-impregnated thing. It is the figure which expanded a part of impregnation test apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure showing progress of the impregnation of the impregnation liquid in the impregnation test apparatus of this embodiment. It is the figure which expanded a part of impregnation test apparatus of other embodiment. It is the top view and sectional drawing which show the conventional impregnation test apparatus. It is a figure showing progress of the impregnation of the impregnation liquid in the conventional impregnation test apparatus.

  Next, an embodiment of the impregnation test apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a top view showing an impregnation test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The impregnation test apparatus 1 aims to obtain a better quality molded article such as FRP obtained by the RTM molding method, and has optimum impregnation conditions (viscosity of impregnating liquid, impregnating liquid) for molding the molded article. In order to determine the impregnation speed by immersing the impregnated liquid into the impregnated material experimentally to determine the impregnation speed and the like. is doing. In FIG. 1, the main body 2 and the upper lid 3 are displayed one above the other. However, when the impregnation liquid is impregnated into the material to be impregnated using the impregnation test apparatus 1, the upper lid 3 is placed on the main body 2. Let me put it.

  2 is a cross-sectional view of the impregnation test apparatus 1 in a state in which the article to be impregnated W is housed. FIG. 2 (a) is a cross-sectional view in the Y-axis direction, and FIG. 2 (b) is a cross-sectional view in the X-axis direction. Here, in this description, the main traveling direction of the impregnating liquid in the article to be impregnated W is the X axis direction, the direction orthogonal to the X axis direction on the horizontal plane is the Y axis direction, and both the X axis direction and the Y axis direction are orthogonal. The direction to be performed, that is, the vertical direction is called the Z-axis direction. The X-axis direction is the impregnation direction of the impregnating liquid, while the Y-axis direction is also referred to as the width direction.

  The impregnation test apparatus 1 includes a liquid supply means 4 in addition to the main body 2 and the upper lid 3 so that the article to be impregnated W is placed in the recess 21 of the main body 2 and the article to be impregnated W is pressed down. After the upper lid 3 is placed on the main body 2, the impregnating liquid is impregnated into the article W to be impregnated by sending the impregnating liquid from the liquid supply means 4 toward the recess 21. The progress of the impregnation is photographed with a video camera (not shown), and the impregnation behavior is evaluated, for example, by measuring the impregnation speed. In addition, the evaluation result may be used for comparison with the result of prediction by the simulation means in order to verify the accuracy of the prediction of the impregnation behavior by the separately provided simulation means.

  Here, a resin such as polyamide or polyimide is used as the impregnating liquid, and a fiber bundle such as carbon fiber, aramid fiber, or glass fiber is used as the impregnated material W.

  In the present embodiment, the main body 2 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped object formed of acrylic, on which the article to be impregnated W is placed. The main body 2 has a recess 21, a supply port 22, a manifold 23, and a slit 24.

  The recess 21 is a recess provided in the center of the upper surface of the main body 2, and the dimensions in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction are substantially smaller than the dimensions in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction of the article W to be impregnated. The article to be impregnated W is placed inside the recess 21 which is equivalent or slightly larger.

  Further, a portion other than the concave portion 21 on the upper surface of the main body portion 2 (a portion outside the concave portion 21) is a portion close to the upper lid portion 3 when the upper lid portion 3 is placed on the main body portion 2. It has become. The upper lid placing portion 25 is provided with a groove so as to surround the recess 21, and an O-ring 26 is disposed in the groove. When the upper lid 3 is placed on the main body 2, the O-ring 26 contacts the upper lid 3 and supports the upper lid 3.

  In this embodiment, the depth (dimension in the Z-axis direction) of the recess 21 is smaller than the dimension in the Z-axis direction of the article W to be impregnated when no load is applied. When the upper lid portion 3 is placed from above, the impregnated object W is compressed in the Z-axis direction by the main body portion 2 and the upper lid portion 3. Further, by laying a sheet-like spacer on the bottom surface of the concave portion 21, the substantial depth of the concave portion 21 can be adjusted, and thereby the Z-axis direction of the article W to be impregnated when the upper lid portion 3 is placed. The compression ratio can be adjusted.

  The supply port 22 is a through hole provided in the lower surface of the main body 2 to supply the impregnating liquid to the recess 21, and is connected to the liquid supply means 4 through the pipe 28.

  The manifold 23 communicates with the supply port 22 and is provided on the upstream side in the impregnation liquid impregnation direction (X-axis direction) with respect to the recess 21, and the Y-axis dimension is substantially the same as the Y-axis dimension of the recess 21. It is a depression provided on the upper surface of the main body 2 or a hollow formed inside the main body 2 and has a function of spreading the impregnating liquid supplied through the supply port 22 in the Y-axis direction. When the manifold 23 is in the form of a depression provided on the upper surface of the main body 2, the manifold 23 takes a hollow shape by being combined with the main body facing surface 31 of the upper lid 3.

  The slit 24 communicates with the manifold 23 and the recess 21, the dimension in the Y-axis direction is substantially the same as the dimension in the Y-axis direction of the manifold 23 and the recess 21, and the dimension in the Z-axis direction is the Z-axis of the manifold 23 and the recess 21. The impregnating liquid moves from the manifold 23 to the concave portion 21 through the slit 24, which is a recess provided in the upper surface of the main body portion 2 or a hollow portion formed inside the main body portion 2. When the slit 24 is in the form of a depression provided on the upper surface of the main body 2, the slit 24 is combined with the main body facing surface 31 of the upper lid 3 to take a hollow form.

  Here, since the slit 24 is smaller in the Z-axis direction than the manifold 23, the flow resistance applied to the impregnating liquid in the slit 24 is larger than that in the manifold 23. For this reason, the impregnating liquid supplied from the supply port 22 spreads in the Y-axis direction in the manifold 23, and thereafter fills the entire manifold 23 before starting to enter the slit 24. As a result, the line segment connecting the leading portions of the impregnating liquid in the slit 24 in the width direction (Y-axis direction) is substantially parallel to the Y-axis. That is, the impregnating liquid is rectified by the slit 24. By being rectified in this way, impregnation of the article to be impregnated W can be started simultaneously in the width direction.

  A discharge port 27 is provided at the end of the recess 21 on the downstream side in the impregnation direction (X-axis direction) of the impregnation liquid. It is discharged from the discharge port 27.

  The upper lid 3 is a rectangular parallelepiped object that is formed of acrylic and has dimensions in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction that are substantially the same as the dimensions in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction of the main body 2. 21. The object to be impregnated is stored in the impregnation test apparatus 1 while being compressed on the main body 2 in a state where the object to be impregnated W is placed on the body 21. It is.

  In the present embodiment, the surface of the upper lid portion 3 that faces the body portion 2 when placed on the body portion 2, that is, the body portion facing surface 31 that is the lower surface is a flat surface. The compression member 32 is provided so as to protrude downward.

  The compression member 32 is formed of an elastic body in the present embodiment, and specifically, formed of a polyethylene foam.

  The compression member 32 has a width direction (Y-axis direction) in the state where the upper lid portion 3 is placed on the main body portion 2, and the upper lid portion 3 on the outer side of both ends of the concave portion 21. It is provided so as to cross an adjacent region (that is, the upper lid placing portion 25). Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown by the chain line in FIG. 1, the compression member 32 is partially over the recess 21, the manifold 23, and the slit 24, and a part thereof is on the outside thereof, that is, the upper lid placement portion 25. Thus, it is arranged in a closed quadrilateral shape. By providing the compression member 32 in this manner, when the upper lid portion 3 is placed on the main body portion 2, the portion covering the upper lid placing portion 25 is crushed by the weight of the upper lid portion 3, and the portion covering the inner side of the recess 21 is covered. The material to be impregnated W is compressed in contact with the material impregnated W.

  The liquid supply means 4 is a pump in this embodiment, and pumps the impregnating liquid into the recess 21 through the pipe 28, the supply port 22, the manifold 23, and the slit 24. By adjusting the pressure of the pump, it is possible to adjust the liquid feeding pressure of the impregnating liquid.

  When the impregnation object W is accommodated in the above impregnation test apparatus 1 and the impregnation liquid is fed, as shown by the arrow in FIG. Then, it spreads in the Y-axis direction by the manifold 23 and is rectified by the slit 24, then enters the article to be impregnated W, and the impregnation proceeds in the X-axis direction. Then, after the impregnation is completed, the impregnating liquid flowing out from the article to be impregnated W is discharged from the discharge port 27.

  Next, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a chain line in FIG. 2B (near the end of the recess in the X-axis direction). Here, FIG. 3A shows a state before the upper lid 3 is placed on the main body 2, and FIG. 3B shows a state where the upper lid 3 is placed on the main body 2.

  As described above, the article to be impregnated W is placed in the recess 21 of the main body 2. Further, the height (dimension in the Z-axis direction) of the article to be impregnated at no load is larger than the depth of the recess 21 as shown in FIG. W is a state of protruding from the upper surface of the main body 2, but when the upper lid 3 is placed, the impregnated material W is compressed by the upper lid 3 as shown in FIG. 1 takes the form stored. Specifically, the cover factor value of the article to be impregnated W compressed in the upper lid portion 3 (the ratio of the fiber area to the unit area of the article to be impregnated) is a value of 50% to 60%. In addition, when the preform is impregnated with the impregnating liquid by the RTM molding method in the actual production of the molded product, the preform is in such a state that the compressive force is applied in this way.

  On the other hand, when the dimension in the width direction (Y-axis direction) of the recess 21 is larger than the width direction of the article W to be impregnated, a gap is generated between the sidewall of the recess 21 and the article W to be impregnated. In particular, when the article to be impregnated is a fiber bundle, the ends are often not exactly aligned. Therefore, a gap is more likely to be formed between the side wall portion of the recess 21 and the end of the article to be impregnated. There is a possibility that the impregnating liquid leaks into the gap in the middle.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, since the compression member 32 is provided on the upper lid portion 3, the end portion of the article W to be impregnated in the width direction is the compression member when the upper lid portion 3 is placed on the main body portion 2. 32 is further compressed. Specifically, the cover factor value of the end portion of the article to be impregnated W is 80% to 90% due to compression by the compression member 32.

  As described above, the cover factor value of the article to be impregnated W at the end portion is larger than the cover factor values of the other parts, so that the impregnating liquid is moved out of the article to be impregnated near the end portion inside the article to be impregnated W. Rather than leaking, the inside of the article to be impregnated W easily proceeds in the impregnation direction, and as a result, even if there is a gap between the side wall of the recess 21 and the article to be impregnated W, the impregnating liquid flows out into the gap. This can be prevented. In particular, when the article to be impregnated W is a fiber bundle, a gap is likely to be generated between the side wall portion of the recess 21 and the end of the article to be impregnated W, so that the gain by the technique of the present invention is large.

  In the present embodiment, the compression member 32 is also applied to the upper lid placing portion 25 and is crushed by the main body portion 2 and the upper lid portion 3, so that the impregnating liquid leaks from the end portion of the article W to be impregnated. Even if it comes out, it is possible to prevent the impregnation liquid from flowing into the minute gap between the main body 2 and the upper lid 3.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the progress of the impregnation with the impregnation liquid in the impregnation test apparatus of the present embodiment. In this figure, the state of the impregnating liquid impregnated in the article to be impregnated W is indicated by hatching as the impregnating liquid R.

  As described above, the impregnation liquid R can be prevented from flowing out into the gap between the end portion in the width direction of the article to be impregnated W and the concave portion 21, so that the impregnation liquid R rectified by the slit 24 is impregnated in the article to be impregnated W. The behavior can be maintained substantially in a state where the leading portion of the impregnating liquid R is parallel to the Y axis except for both ends in the width direction where the cover factor value is large. That is, even when the behavior of the impregnating liquid R is confirmed at different positions such as the position P1 and the position P2, for example, almost the same behavior can be confirmed, so that the impregnation behavior can be easily and accurately evaluated. .

  Next, with respect to the impregnation test apparatus in another embodiment, the vicinity of the end of the recess is enlarged and shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, in a state where the upper lid portion 3 is placed on the main body portion 2, the compression member 32 does not rest on the upper lid placement portion 25 but above the recess 21. It is only located. Even in such a form, it is possible to prevent the impregnation liquid from flowing into the gap between the side wall of the recess 21 and the article to be impregnated W, and between the side wall of the recess 21 and the article to be impregnated W. If there is no impregnating liquid flowing out into the gap between the two, as a result, no impregnating liquid flows into the minute gap between the main body 2 and the upper lid 3.

  In the case of such an embodiment, the compression member 32 does not need to be crushed and therefore does not need to be an elastic body, and may be made of metal, for example.

  With the above impregnation test apparatus, it is possible to accurately evaluate the impregnation behavior.

  Here, the impregnation test apparatus 1 of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated form, but may be of another form within the scope of the present invention. For example, the supply port 22 may be provided on the upper lid 3 side.

  Further, the supply port 22 may be provided in the center of the recess 21.

  Further, the liquid supply means 4 is a pump in this embodiment, and the impregnating liquid is pumped to the concave portion 21 of the main body 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the internal pressure of the portion containing the impregnated material W is adjusted. It may be lowered by a vacuum pump, and the impregnating liquid may be drawn from a tank provided outside by a differential pressure from the external pressure.

  Further, the object to be impregnated W may be in a form other than the fiber bundle as long as it can be compressed and impregnated.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Impregnation test apparatus 2 Main body part 3 Upper cover part 4 Liquid supply means 21 Recessed part 22 Supply port 23 Manifold 24 Slit 25 Upper cover mounting part 26 O-ring 27 Discharge port 28 Piping 31 Main body part opposing surface 32 Compression member 90 Impregnation test apparatus 91 Main body Part 92 upper lid part 93 liquid supply means 94 concave part 95 supply port 96 manifold 97 slit 98 upper lid mounting part R impregnating liquid W impregnated material

Claims (3)

A main body having a recess for placing a compressible article to be impregnated;
An upper lid portion placed on the main body portion and covering the concave portion;
A liquid supply means for supplying an impregnating liquid for intrusion into the recess;
With
A compression member that compresses the impregnated material in contact with the impregnated material placed in the concave portion is further provided on the surface of the upper lid portion that faces the main body.
With respect to the width direction, which is a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the impregnation liquid proceeds, in the recess, the compression member is positioned above the entire ends of the recess in a state where the upper lid is placed on the main body. An impregnation testing apparatus characterized by being provided in The impregnation test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object to be impregnated is a fiber bundle.   The compression member is formed of an elastic body, and in the width direction, in the state where the upper cover is placed on the main body, close to the upper cover at a region above both ends of the recess and on the outer side of the both ends The impregnation test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the impregnation test apparatus is provided so as to cross a region to be cut.

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