Although vacuum-assisted transfer molding (VARTM) is preferred for manufacturing medium to large composite parts due to its simple tooling and low cost, part quality dictated by dimensional tolerances, void content and mechanical properties is usually low due to inherent limitations of the process. In this study, the conventional VARTM process was modified by external pressurization of a heated mold to increase fiber volume fraction and improve mechanical properties of laminates. During post-filling, various levels of external pressure were applied in a pressure chamber mounted on top of the mold. It was observed that pressurized VARTM led to laminates with less than 1% void content. In addition, fiber volume fraction and flexural strength were increased 25% and 13% with respect to non-pressurized VARTM, respectively which demonstrates the potential for manufacturing considerably higher quality composites by pressurized VARTM.

尽管真空辅助传递模塑（VARTM）由于其简单的加工和低成本而优选用于制造中型到大型复合零件，但由于工艺的固有局限性，由尺寸公差，空隙含量和机械性能决定的零件质量通常较低。在这项研究中，通过对加热模具进行外部加压来改进常规VARTM工艺，以增加纤维体积分数并改善层压板的机械性能。在后填充过程中，在安装在模具顶部的压力室中施加各种水平的外部压力。观察到加压的VARTM导致层压板的空隙率小于1％。此外，相对于非加压VARTM，纤维体积分数和抗弯强度分别提高了25％和13％，