Laminate Sample #20: Infused E-Glass / Vinyl-ester with Soric Core

This laminate sample shows uses vacuum infusion with e-glass and Lantor Soric core - and vinyl-ester resin. The resulting panel is a good benchmark for thin, easy to manufacture composite laminates that will be easy to use with in-mold gelcoat. The skins (18oz / 600g triaxial) are a bit heavier than might be typical but they show the process and also provide heavy enough fiber bundles to cause visible resin shrinkage.

For this infusion, the vacuum is quite low, only 24inHg / 200mbar or so. It still works fine - though more vacuum would be good in the debulking and infusing - but you should probably back it off when the part is full - before you clamp off the feed lines. Leave the vacuum on until the part is fully cured.

There are a few mistakes here that illustrate issues that come up from time to time - this is part of the plan. I am using these videos to show the processes as well as document the laminates - and they are incorporated into other how-to (and how-not-to!) articles and videos on EC!

Laminate Specifics:

Fiber is 18oz / 600g triaxial e-glass, one ply per skin
Resin is Stypol EPOVIA® RF1001 catalyzed with MEKP-925 at 1.75%
Core is 2mm Soric XF

Finished thickness: 0.13" / 3.3mm
Laminate weight: 11.5 oz/square foot , 4.5kg/square meter

Process parameters:

Mold temperature: 92F / 33C
Resin temperature: 70F / 21C
Vacuum: 206mbar / 24 inHg

How-to Vacuum Bagging Article (with video):
https://explorecomposites.com/article...

For more about infusion troubleshooting: https://explorecomposites.com/2019/11...