Resin transfer molding of a centrifuge rotor

摘要

A method for fabricating fiber-reinforced composite structures, including centrifuge rotors, by resin transfer molding (RTM) is disclosed. The method involves loading reinforcing fibers into a mold and then injecting resin into the mold to coat the fibers to form the composite structure. Two types of reinforcing fibers are used-fabric preforms at the surfaces of the structure and chopped fibers at the interior of the structure. Also disclosed is a fiber-reinforced composite structure comprising a skin layer of reinforcing fabric, chopped fibers distributed throughout the interior of the structure, and epoxy resin that binds the fabric and chopped fibers together into a fiber-reinforced composite structure. The resin transfer molding method is especially useful for fabricating composite centrifuge rotors.