This article describes a novel variant of the vacuum infusion process based on a multifunctional elastomeric reusable vacuum bag. The main innovation of this process is an elastomeric membrane having resin flow channels that can be controlled during the infusion process: they can be activated for the impregnation stage to enhance resin flow and removed during the curing stage to provide a smooth surface finish to the part. In addition, the size of the resin flow channels can be modified during the infusion providing control on the impregnation rate. This article describes the driven flow vacuum infusion (DFVI) process and presents analytical calculations regarding the effect of the geometrical design of the membrane and the processing variables on the porosity, permeability, and volume of resin transported by the flow medium. Preliminary results of unidirectional resin infusion tests comparing the DFVI process to traditional vacuum infusion and SCRIMP are also presented.

本文介绍了一种基于多功能弹性可重复使用的真空袋的真空灌注工艺的新颖变体。该工艺的主要创新之处是具有可在注入过程中控制的树脂流动通道的弹性膜：可在浸渍阶段将其活化以增强树脂流动，并在固化阶段将其除去，从而为零件提供光滑的表面光洁度。另外，可以在注入期间改变树脂流动通道的尺寸，从而提供对浸渍速率的控制。本文介绍了驱动流真空灌注（DFVI）工艺，并提出了有关膜的几何设计和工艺变量对流动介质所输送的树脂的孔隙率，渗透性和体积的影响的分析计算。