Light resin transfer moulding (Light RTM) is a process by which products of

Composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...

s are manufactured using a closed mold system.

Procedure

Similar to the methods performed in

resin transfer molding Out of autoclave composite manufacturing is an alternative to the traditional high pressure autoclave (industrial) curing process commonly used by the aerospace manufacturers for manufacturing composite material. Out of autoclave (OOA) is a pro ...

, Light RTM involves a closed mold process. A

vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or " void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often ...

holds mold A and mold B together to result in two finished sides with fixed thickness levels. Vacuum rings around the tools hold the molds together for this process after dry fiber reinforcements are loaded into mold A before joining with mold B. The air is vacuumed out of the molds with a lower vacuum level, separate from the tooling. After the air is removed the

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on nat ...

is injected into the part. The vacuum remains in effect into the resin is cured.

References

{{Reflist Composite materials Composite material fabrication techniques