Advanced Material and Tooling Concept for a RTM Helicopter Fitting

The VANTEX (Vanishing textile) project introduces a new type of filament made of EMS MS Grilon phenoxy to enhance laminate toughness for RTM components. In this case, a helicopter fitting (usually made of aluminium) has been produced. The component is riveted onto the ground and has two interfaces to load introductions with 20’000N and 2’000N, respectively. In preforming, phenoxy filaments are applied in woven and non-crimped fabrics, as fleece or as sewing thread. Phenoxy replaces binder material and increases the toughness of the final part. Preform structure and injection process are optimized in terms of load introduction and complete wet-out. Due to the geometry of the component, an advanced tooling concept using a mould made of Invar and aluminium, combined with temperature controlled demoulding are applied. The so manufactured components are evaluated in terms of toughness and maximum load introduction. Experimental results show a toughness increases thanks to the use of the phenoxy filament. The required static loads are exceeded by a factor 4.