Abstract
The current work investigates full-field monitoring of resin flow during a VaRTM using an area-sensor array. The squared area sensors are aligned as a matrix on a thin polyimide film without any un-sensing space; thus the film measures the full-field flow monitoring, and never misses a diy spot that may occur anywhere on the film. To identify the precise flow front and diy spots, the impregnated area is estimated by minimizing the residual sum of squares between the measured and estimated impregnated area ratios. Using the different characteristics of electrical properties, the electrical capacitance and resistance in case of out-of-plane and in-plane impregnation, the resin flow direction and distribution is estimated. In this study, we assume the RTM manufacturing of unsaturated polyester resin/glass fiber composites. These GFRP composites has vely different permittivity and resistivity characteristics between impregnated and un-impregnated states.
