JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #96 - April 2015 - 68

vacuum infusion
is one of the method's great advantages
since it saves in materials and resources.
As a closed process, VAP® also creates
the prerequisites for a clean working
environment and workplace health. For
a start, the swift stacking of overlapping
layers in the lay-up permits their repositioning at any time without having to
take resin pot time into consideration.
Moreover, with an eye to occupational
safety, the integrated resin feeds in this
approach make it a practically noncontact process, one that is beyond
comparison with the use of resinsaturated in-house prepregs as was once
customary.

Basis for professional
and economical production
conditions
The spread of VAP® has brought about
far-reaching optimisation of fabrication
sequences, marking a milestone in the
development of the systematised and
professional production processes encountered practically everywhere these
days. Thanks to this de facto standard in
resin infusion, rotor blade manufacturers are able to meet growing demands
regarding blade length and laminate
thickness in a process characterised
by high quality, reproducibility and
economic efficiency.
Today, the fabrication of rotor blades
for wind turbines is the largest industrial application in which the process

Fig. 4: Custom-shaping of VAP® materials facilitates serial production in the field of lightweight
components (photo: Trans-Textil GmbH)

is deployed, but the technology was
originally developed by Airbus for the
production of aeronautical structures,
and to this day it excels as a high-quality and inexpensive form of out-of-autoclave technology. Clear advantages such
as nil-porosity components featuring
only minimum variations in thickness,
precise fibre volume contents and
economical fabrication soon became
evident in the production of such components as the cargo door of the Airbus
A400M transportation plane, the pressure bulkhead for the A350 and floor
supporting elements - all thanks to this
faster infusion process, its shorter cycle
times and excellent process stability.
Additionally, existing tools can continue to be used and efficiently utilised
to capacity.
This all explains how the VAP® method
was soon being deployed in areas such
as commercial vehicle production and
shipbuilding.

Application engineering
and innovative products

Fig. 3: Quality-assured VAP® membrane systems
are adapted to customer requirements, resin type
and temperature (photo: Trans-Textil GmbH)

Composyst GmbH provides extensive process engineering support to
companies that want to try out and
introduce VAP® technology in their
work. Bolstered by a long experience in
the use and adaptation of this process
in practical applications, the company
supplies not only membrane products
but also process know-how for swift
implementation of the advantages of
VAP® in serial production scenarios.

68 jec composites magazine / No96 April 2015

Fig. 5: Trans-Textil's state-of-the-art production
machinery is the basis for membrane products
developed specifically for composites (photo:
Trans-Textil GmbH)

The quality-assured VAP® membrane
systems are made exclusively by TransTextil GmbH, and are not only tested
and approved for different resin types
and process variants but also further
refined and adapted to requirements in
the field. A broad portfolio of semipermeable barrier layers and textile carriers as well as precisely-controlled production processes enable the company
to deliver flexible solutions for various
matrix systems, process temperatures
and process variants in the composites
field. The C2003 high-temperatureresistant membrane is an example of a
new aviation-qualified product specifically developed for deployment in the
aerospace sector.
Trans-Textil supplies additional semifinished products and works on new
developments with the aim of further
optimising the process in order to unlock additional technical and economic
potential in fabrication work.
Trans-Textil's VAP® semi-finished products can be provided in bespoke widths
and roll lengths according to exact
requirements, while its VAP® Multilayer
integrates several VAP® stack layers into
one for significant handling facilitation,
and it also features a spacer laminated
to the fabric system to maximise the
flow of air. n
More information:
www.vap-info.com
http://www.vap-info.com
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #96 - April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #96 - April 2015
