1. Introduction
Prepreg Manufacturing Development: Treater Automation
Andrew Hollcraft, Eric Leone, John Murphy Department of Engineering Technology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
Implemented Solution
Proposed Solution
Future Work
AcknowledgementsSpecial thanks to
•Zodiac Aerospace:
Mark Harper
Kevin Bussard
• Kalin Karich
• John Murphy
•Andrew Hollcraft
•Bill Karman
• Steve James
• Vince Hill
•Will Rasnack
• 115V Gear Motor
• Variable Frequency Drive
• Chain drive system
• Safety Guards
• Modular T-bar Slot Design
• 18” Fabric Width
Zodiac Aerospace is developing new prepreg resin
systems suitable as a replacement for current phenol
formaldehyde prepreg. This automated treater will
reduce the variability currently observed in micro scale
lab prepregging, allowing for a greater degree of
accuracy during formulation characterization and
process optimization.
Student Benefit:
• Deeper understanding of a current industry standard
process not currently available at WWU
• Custom resin formulation and characterization
• Readily available prepreg for current and future
student use
Washington Aerospace Benefit:
• Local source of engineers familiar with current
composite technologies The treater is now capable of batch processing with
water-based phenolic resin. Future work (which begins
this quarter) will focus on incorporating this machine
into a continuous processing method capable of
manufacturing prepreg using various resin systems.
Areas of primary concern for this improved method
will be:
• Machine Qualification
• Designed experiment to investigate effects
of multiple process factors on
prepreg mechanical properties
• Volatile Management and Ventilation
• Adherence to OSHA standards to protect the safety
of all WWU students, staff, and visitors
• B-staging Method
• Lab scale oven which meets process
requirements
• Up-take Rollers
• Final process procedure capable of
sufficiently covering B-staged prepreg with
olefin film for safe shipment and adequate
storage
• Treater Cleaning and Maintenance
• Efficient and safe cleaning of the machine after use
for various resin systems
High tack tape provided by Airtech
Standard fabric stitching
Upon delivery of the lab-scale manual prepreg treater,
slight complications had to be addressed prior to moving
forward. Machining modifications were carried out in
order to solve a roller runout issue with the primary
roller, enabling the treater to maintain a consistent
thickness between rollers. Thereafter, variable speed
automation, was made possible by incorporating the
following components to the machine:
• Gear motor and power inverter (for 115V input)
mounted on machined bracketry
• Potentiometer
• Chain drive system (currently 2:1 drive ratio, easily
modified)