PM I F oam Cor ed Sandw ich Co mpo nents Pr oduced by M eans o f Different M anuf actur ing M ethods

37

PMI Foam Cored Sandwich Components Produced by

Means of Different Manufacturing Methods
L eonhard M aier 1 , H U P ei2* , H erman Seibert1
( 1 Rhm Gm bH & Co. KG, Darm st adt 64293, Germ any;
2 Degussa ( China) Co. , L t d. , Shanghai 201108, China)
Abstract: T he paper introduced the structural applicatio ns w ith P M I ( P oly methacr ylimide) foams in sandw ich co mpo nents
for r oto r craft , launching vehicle and civil air craft and discuss some ty pically used manufact ur ing metho ds, such as e. g.
in- mould pr essing , aut oclav e curing and resin infusio n. T he advantages of foam- cor ed sandwich desig n v er sus ho ney combco red desig n w ill be discussed, focussing o n manufactur ing co sts.
Key words: fo am; sandw ich st ructur e; manfactur e; composit e
CLC number: T B33

Document code: A

Article ID: 1001- 4381( 2006) 05- 0037- 04

T he paper w ill int roduce st ruct ural applicat io ns

w it h PM I ( Po lymet hacrylimide) f oams in sandw ich
com po nent s f or rot or craf t and civil aircr af t and discuss som e t ypically used m anufact uring met ho ds,
such as e. g. in- m ould pressing, aut oclav e curing and
resin inf usion. T he advant ages of f oam- cored sandw ich desig n v ersus honey com b- cor ed desig n w ill be
discussed, f ocussing o n manuf act ur ing co st s.

Properties of Rigid Foam Plastics

11 1

Mechanical Properties at Room Temperature

Lo gically , the suit ability of f oam core mat er ials

Fig. 1

Com pari son chart of various f oam

specifi c t ensil e st rengt h/ m odulus

at room t em perat ure

fo r a part icular sandw ich applicat ion depends o n the

st ruct ural requir em ent s result ing f rom t he design ca-l
culat ion. If w e com pare the mechanical proper ties at
equal densit ies, it beco mes obv io us t hat PM I f oams
of fer o ut standing propert ies ( F ig. 1 and F ig. 2) .
11 2

Mechanical Properties at Elevated Temperature

In addit io n t o t he mechanical properties at room

temperature, t he dy namic shear modulus vs. temperat ure curve shall be used to discuss t he t hermo mechanical pro pert ies, referring t o st ruct ural int eg rity
of a sandw ich co mponent w hen exposed to elevat ed
temperatures( F ig. 3) .
It can be concluded t hat o nly t he f am ily of PM I
fo am s visualized by a yellow band, can ser ve as a re-

E-mail: pei1 hu@ degussa. com

Fig. 2

Com pari son chart of various f oam

specific s hear st rengt h / modulus

at room t em perat ure

liable sandw ich co re mat erial at t em peratures above

130 e . A significant decr ease in perf ormance first
set s in at 180 e .

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38
Cycl e 1: 125 e / 01 3M Pa/ 2h

Cycle 2: 180 e / 0. 7M Pa/ 2 h

Type of foam

C reep/ %

T ype of f oam

Creep/ %

PU

> 12

PU

N ot ap plicable

PV C ( H T grade)

N ot ap plicable

M at erial
coll aps ed
PV C ( H T grade)

10

PM I ( WF- HT ) *

3. 5

PM I

1. 5

PMI( WF-H T) *

1. 5

* H T : mat eri al heat-t reat ed, 130 e / 2h, 190 e / 48h

Fig. 3

* * : densit y 110 k g/ m 3

D ynam ic shear modulu s of diff er ent rigid f oam

Advanced RT M pr ocess using e. g. H excel. s

Processing Ability of Rigid Foams

RT M 6

T oday. s in- m ould pressing , aut oclave cure and

Inject ion

resin inf usion processes f or sandw ich manuf act ure using epo xy mat rix syst ems can be subdivided int o t wo
major cat eg ories:
( a)

~ 01 6M Pa/ 180 e

Post- curing
t emp eratu re
180 e

Foam t ype

PU and

PM I

PV C

( WF grad e)

Creep in % N ot applicable

1. 5

low- t emperat ure curing sy st em s up to

125 e ;

Matched Mould Co- curing Procedure

( b ) hig h- t emperat ur e curing syst ems up to

175 e .

In case of m at ched mo uld manuf act ure of ro to r

In bot h cases t he f oam co re is ex po sed to a t em-

blades, t he cost saved by using a fo am co re inst ead of

a honey com b core. T he r easo ns are ease o f m eaning

perature load plus a pressure load f or a cer tain period

of t ime. T hus t he cr eep behaviour o f t he fo am is the
main po int of int erest for t he manuf act ure. In the
case of adv anced resin infusio n pro cess using monocom po nent syst ems such as RT M 6, t he f oam core
must w it hst and high inject ion- pressure ( up t o 01 6
MP a) and high inject io n temper at ure ( up t o 180 e )
loads during t he ent ir e inject ion process.
Table 1

Suitable f oams for different prepreg resin systems

the PM I f oam core and a significant reduct ion in t oo-l

ing and manuf act uring cost s. T he honey com b ver sion
requires six basic oper at ions:
Shaping of f ir st co nt our, lay- up and cur e o f lo wer skin t o t he shaped core, shaping t he opposit e core
cont our lay- up and cure of t he upper skin, assem bly
and lay- up of pro cured det ails and f inal cure of the
com po nent .
T he single- cure pro cedure of t he f oam cored v er-

R esin/ Prepr egs

Temperat ure/ e

Pressu re/ M Pa

Foams

Pol yest er

RT

N early all

Epoxy

RT

N early all

det ails and final cure.

It is easy t o see w hy this part icular manuf act ur-

> 80

PV C( H T ) ,

ing met ho d w as so successfully applied t o t he m anu-

Low pressu re
ep ox y prepreg s
S tandard epoxy
prepregs
Bism al einimid

R ohacel l

sion co nsist s of only 3 st eps:

Shaping of the co re, assembly and lay- up of all

f act ure of helicopt er m ain ro to r blades. T he t hermo

125 ~ 175

0. 3 ~ 0. 7

R ohacel l

elastic behaviour and ex cellent creep co mpression re-

190

0. 7

R ohacel l

sist ance o f t he PM I f oams w ere t he decisive f act ors

fo r using them as / act ive0 mandrels in t he matched
mould curing process development by WEST LAND

A t est series car ried out at Rhm GmbH to ev a-l

uat e so me t ypical fo am plast ics in a densit y of 80
kg / m 3 w as concluded w it h t he fol low ing result s:

engineering and Degussa. Slight ly oversized fo am

cor es provide a suf ficient ly high and const ant lev el of
int ernal pressure, per fect ly consolidat ing ev en v ery
thick prepreg layers and guarant eeing and ex tr em ely

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PM I F oam Cor ed Sandw ich Co mpo nents Pr oduced by M eans o f Different M anuf actur ing M ethods

low vo id cont ent in t he lam inat e. T his part icular

manuf act ure m et hod is hig hly cost- ef fective and relia-

sible to int ro duce a single cur ing pr ocess, w hereas

the honey com b core requir es several curing and bo nd-

ble.

ing operat ions. In addit ion, machining of t he fo am

cor e is m uch easier, and up t o t en tim es hig her f eed
rates are possible. PM I foam cores have been successf ully intro duced in many m ajor blade prog rams.
T he main blade of WEST LAND. s EH 101 helico pt er
is probably t he most impr essive example. T he lengt h
Fig. 4

M at ched m ould proces sing met h od

T he init ial change f rom t he o ld metal blade de-

of t he blade is appr oxim at ely 8. 5 m et res. Eur oco pt er

makes int ensiv e use of PM I f oam cores f or t heir range
of helicopters.

sign t o co mposit e blades w as prom pt ed by t he w ish to

solv e corro sion problems and the demand f or in-

fo am oversize rat e of t he fo am mat erial is g ot w it h

creased perf ormance and service life of t he blades. A

the simulation t est under t he curing co ndition ( t em-

manuf act uring method using PM I fo am co res as an

perature and pressure curve) of t he prepreg .

/ act ive0 m andr el and st ruct ur al m em ber of t he sandw ich com ponent w as developed in close cooper at ion

bet w een a major European helicopt er manufact urer

For t he m at ch mold co- curing t echnolog y, the

Autoclave Co-curing Procedure

At present , the prepreg auto clave m et hod is pr-i

and t he ROH ACEL L eng ineering t eam. T his t echnolo gy is w ell know n as t he in- m ould pressure

m ar ily being used f or t he m anufact ure of high quality

pro cess. During t he closed- m ould curing process, the

com po sit e component s since it pro vides a very high

thermo elastic behaviour of t he f oam core prov ides in-

and repro ducible co mpo nent qualit y w hile requiring a

t ernal pressure, perf ect ly consolidat ing ev en massive

prepreg layers against t he mould surf ace. Ow ing to

moder at e inv est ment of to ols. T he hig h component

their excellent creep compressio n resist ance, such

im pr eg nat ed, cont inuous f ibre product s) , in t he au-

fo am cores can pro vide a very hig h and co nstant level

of pressure. In- m ould pressures of up t o seven bars

t o clave. Sim ple to ols are r equired because only sin-

can be reached and maint ained during a tw o- hour cure

flex ible v acuum co ver.

cycle. T he desired peak pr essure can be adjust ed to

qualit y is at t ained by com pact ing t he pr epregs ( resin

g le- sided suppor ting t oo ls are needed w hich have a

If w e f ocus on the manuf act ure of air craf t com

precisely m eet t he g el po int of t he epox y prepreg.

T he superior mechanical propert ies o f t he fo am im-

ponent s, m ostly N OM EX

prov e buckling resistance of the mo st ly v ery t hin U-

cellent str engt h- t o- w eig ht and modulus- t o- w eight rat ios.

spar s used in the blade design. T hanks t o t heir outst anding fat igue behav io r, w hich is seco nd t o none a-

and alum inum honey-

combs are used as t he cor e m at erial. T hey of fer ex-

On the ot her hand, t he non- isot ropic and open-

m ong r ig id f oams, PM I fo am s w it hst and the high dy-

cell character of honeycom bs causes so me pro blems

namic loads t o w hich t he rot or blades are exposed

during core shaping and curing . H oney com bs do not

during t heir service life.

By using t he P MI f oam- co red desig n, t he ser vice

w it hst and lat eral fo rces/ pressures and t end t o co-l

lapse during cor e shaping and sandw ich cure. T hey

life o f rot or blades w as increased f rom approx imat ely

do not fully support prepr eg lay er s during co curing

400~ 500 f light hour s f or t he init ial metal blade, to

more t han 10, 000 flig ht hours t oday. A det ailed

operat ions, w hich result s in surf ace im perf ect io ns

st udy carried out by BEL L concluded t hat a PM I

and zones o f po or lam inat e consolidat ion and fiber

diso rient at ions. A no ther m ajo r problem is ext ensive

fo am- cored t ail rot or blade co st s o nly about 20 per

moisture abso rpt ion and corr osion, w hich limit s the

cent as much t o m anufact ure as the honey com b- cor ed

version. T his is because t he f oam co re m akes it pos-

perf ormance of the com ponent and caused increased

ex pendit ur e f or repair and hig her service lift cost s.

 / 2006 5

40
For t hese reasons, suit able rig id f oam cores based on
PM I have been ut ilized in m anufact uring sandw ich

it is w idely used in t he sandw ich str ucture w it h resin

inf usion t echnolo gy. Wit h t he latest dev elo pment,

com po nent s f or aero space component s fo r quit e so me

PM I f oam cell size can be custo mized so t hat the fo am

tim e now . T his includes secondary st ruct ures as w ell

as primary st ructures fo r stat e- of- art aircraft .

surf ace resin absorptio n can be reduced t o nearly zer o, which reduce t he sandw ich part s w eight .

PM I f oam cored sandw ich st ruct ur e is f irst ly

In the Gulfstr eam G 150, a new generat ion belly

consider ed in t he composit e pay load fairing f or the

fairing ( Fig. 6) realized by means o f vacuum assist ed

Delt a 2. T he g oal fo r the new development w as cost

reduct ion in t he manuf act uring process as w ell as in

resin inf usion ( VARI ) . A pre- net- shaped core of

PM I f oam is pr ecisely t her mof orm ed t o t he requir ed

the assembly of t he fairing . PM I fo am w as used as a

cont our. In t he next st ep dry reinf orcing mat erial is

bi funct ional cor e serving as the m andr el and as a

st ruct ural member of t he sandw ich cont ribut ing to

st it ched t o t he core m aking a r eady- t o use assem bly

w it h is easy t o handle ( F ig . 7) . T he assem bly is put

buckling r esist ance. T he decision w as prompt ed by

on the f em ale t oo l and is vacuum bag ged. Resin is in-

the fact t hat P MI f oam can easily be t her mof orm ed to

f used by m eans of vacuum suct io n and t he part is

ev en very co mplex g eo metr ies such as t he no se sect ion o f t he fairing. T his m akes it possible to imple-

post- cured aft er t he inject ion process has been finished. T he r ig id fo am core act s as a mandrel, carry-

m ent a simple male t ool plus a co st sav ing lay- up and

ing the dry r einfo rcement and is also a st ruct ural

cure pro cedure. Prepr eg for t he inner skin of the

member of t he sandw ich design. T he part s produced

com po nent it laid up first, fo llow ed by t he precisely

thermo for med pat t erns of t he PM I f oam being the

by t he low- cost VARI processing have excel lent surf ace f inish and t he skins hav e a very hig h fiber vo-l

mandrel f or t he lay- up of t he o ut er prepreg skins.

ume fract ion. ( Fig . 8 and Fig . 9) .

T he ent ir e lay- up is vacuum- bagg ed and co- cured at

175 e in o ne shot.

Fig. 6
Fig. 5

Design of t he belly fairing

Fu lly bagged hal f fairing D elt a 2

Resin Infusion Procedure[ 1, 2]

T he resin inf usion met ho d has become est ab-

l ished in t he past few y ears as an alt er nat ive t o the

prepreg t echnolo gy. In t his met ho d to f abricat e the
sandw ich st ruct ure, a cost- ef f ectiv e and nonim pregnat ed f ibre perfo rm and fo am core is placed in a massive mo uld t o w hich a low- viscous resin sy st em is inject ed under pr essure.
Due to t he clo se- cell str ucture o f the P MI foam,

Fig. 7

Foam w it h st it ched-on f abri c

( 45 )

45

T oug hening o f BM I Based G raphite Laminates by Ex-situ Co ncept

goo d sig n fo r high t oug hness and t hus f or t he high

impact damag e resist ance. It is also believed t hat the
tw o- component f ilms help to f acilitat e t he spinodal
decom po sit io n and coarsening pr ocess, leading t o the
granular st ruct ure. H ow ever, an int ensiv e invest ig at ion t o t his st ruct ure- propert y r elat ionship is cer tainl y needed.

References:
[ 1]

A N Xu e-feng, TA N G Bang-ming, Y I Xiao-s u, et al . T oughn ess

im provement of carbon l amin at es b y periodic int erl eavin g t hin
t hermoplast ic film s [ J ] . Jour nal of M at erial s S cien ce L et t ers ,
2002, 21: 1763- 1765.

[ 2]

Y I Xiao-s u, A N X ue-f eng, TA N G Bang-m ing, et al. Ex-si t u f ormat ion of p eriodic In terlayer st ruct ur e t o im prove s ignifi can tl y t he
im pact damage r esis tance of carbon lam inat es [ J] . A dvan ced Engineerin g M at erials , 2003, 5: 729- 732.

Conclusion

[ 3]

In conclusio n, in t er ms of compressio n aft er impact ( CAI) behavior t he E x- si t u concept has successf ully been demonstr at ed for BMI 6421 / PAEK lam-i
nat ed g raphite systems, particularl y if t he t w o- component f ilms o f a specific co mposit ion rat io of 60 B40
w ere periodically int er leaved.

LON G W ei, XU Y a- hong, YI X iao-su. Preliminary study on resin

t ransf er molding of highly-t oughened graphit e laminat e by ex-si tu
met hod [ J] . Journal of M at erials Science, 2004, 39: 2263- 2266.

[ 4]

Y I Xiao-s u, A N Xu e-feng. Eff ect of in terleaf sequence on i mpact

damage an d residual st rengt h in a g raphi te/ epoxy laminat e [ J ] .
J ou rnal of M at erial s S cience, 2004, 39: 3253- 3255.

[ 5]

Y I Xiao-s u, X U Y a-h ong, CH EN G Q un-f eng. A met hod t o signif icant ly enh ance t he t oughness of BM I based laminat ed syst em
[ P] . Chinese Pat ent in pending, 2005.

[ 6]

Acknowledgements

A N O N. H andb ook of polymer mat rix composit es mat erials ( in

Ch ines e) [ M ] . Beijing: Bei jing C hemi cal Indus t ry Press, 2004.

[ 7]

T his investigation was carried out at the national key

laborat ory of advanced composit es ( LAC/ BIAM) in Be-i
jing. T he aut hors w ish to express t he gratitude to Nat ional Basic Research Program ( 973 Program) f or the f-i
nancial support under grant No. 2003CB615604.

( 40 )

ZH A N G H, C HEN T, Y U A N Y . C hines e Pat ent : CN 85. 108

751, 1985.

[ 8]

H O G G P J , PR ICHA R D J C , S TO N E D L. A m iniat ur ed postim pact compr ess ion t est [ C] . Privat e com municat ion, 1999.

[ 9]

INO U E T. Reacti on-indu ced in phase decom posit ion in polymer

bl ends [ J] . Progress in Pol ymer Science, 1995, 20: 119- 153.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be stat e t hat hig h perf ormance PM I f oams meet t he demands of t he mat ch
mould pr ess, aut oclaving and any kind o f resin inf usion processes.
T he ex cellent cr eep compressio n resist ance and
outst anding t emper at ure resist ance of P MI f oams
make it po ssible t o use t hem f or all com mon cure cyFig. 8

Inf usion procedure

cles. Po st- cur ing t em perat ures up to 225 e ar e a-l

lo w ed. PM I foam cor e can be used w ith cost ef fect ive
cocur ing pro cessing technolog y and it is easy t o be
shaped.
References:
[ 1]

HER M A N N SEIBER T. R ecent appl ication for PM I foams in aeros pace san dwi ch st ruct ures[ A ] . RP A sia Conf erence and Proceedin gs[ C] . Bang kok: Els evier A dvanced T echnology, 2005.

[ 2]
Fig. 9

Cured and t rimmed part

IA I commercial aircraf t croup: AL ON IM J, A RN O N E, DA V ID

A , et al. Development of a busin ess jet com ponent by res in in fus ion u sing a st it ched preform [ A ] . S A M PE Conf erence[ C] . Israel ,
2005.