Voids by mechanical entrapment in liquid molding processes: mechanism of formation, influence in the mechanical response and reduction

Abstract

The voids by mechanical entrapment become as one of the most common type of defects in the liquid molding processing of composites. Because of the strong influence of those kind of voids in the general performance of the manufactured part, an important amount of researches have focused on the study of the mechanisms of formation of those voids, of the influence of the those ones on the mechanical properties of the composite and of the strategies for their reduction during the process. The present paper aims to do a review of some relevant investigations that have been done in the topic of voids caused by mechanical entrapment of air in the processing of composites by LCM (Liquid composites molding) with the purpose of generate a reference material addressed to researchers that are interested in this important subject matter related to the areas of processing and mechanical behavior of composites materials. They will be addressed some topics like: the mechanism of void formation by imbalance among macroflow and microflow and its relationship with the modified capillary number and the sink effect; the phenomena of compressibility, dissolution and mobilization of bubbles in dual-scale preforms; the influence of voids on the mechanical properties of the composites and on the damage mechanisms; and the most common strategies that can be implemented in the industry for the reduction of this sort of defects.