ABSTRACT

Conventional vacuum bag only (VBO) prepregs are designed with engineered vacuum channels (EVaCs) to facilitate in-plane air removal during low-pressure cure. However, through-thickness permeability in such prepregs is negligible, requiring air removal almost exclusively via the EVaCs. In this work, a new prepregging technique is employed which results in increased through-thickness permeability, promoting removal of inter-ply air and gasses. The prepreg architecture features enhanced through-thickness permeability, in comparison with conventional VBO prepregs. This talk will describe the fabrication and characterization of composite laminates made with this prepreg system, as well as control samples fabricated using a traditional prepreg design. Results show that surface and internal porosity are highly dependent on prepreg architecture, and that the introduction of through-thickness permeability can improve part quality in a range of manufacturing situations.

BIO

Dr. Lessa Grunenfelder received her PhD in Materials Science in 2012, from the University of Southern California. Her dissertation focused on defect reduction in low-pressure processing of carbon fiber composites. Following completion of her PhD, Dr. Grunenfelder held a position as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Riverside, studying biological composites and biomimetic materials. She returned to USC in 2014 to complete a second postdoc, conducting research on next generation composite materials. Dr. Grunenfelder is now full time teaching faculty at USC. She is an active member of SAMPE, participating as a judge in student competitions and as a conference category chair.

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