Shine Auto Project » General

What is Vacuum Infusion?

Ken — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 04:46:14 +0000

Vacuum Infusion is a unique process which utilizes atmospheric pressure to push resin through a closed mold (typically with a bagging film). It works through the principles of D’Arcy’s Law. Composite laminates such as carbon fiber are laid down onto the mold dry. A bagging film is applied over the mold with careful attention to air leaks as the process will not work properly without a perfect seal. A vacuum pump applies atmospheric pressure to the bag pushing the laminates against the mold. Resin is then infused into the mold cavity.

The benefits of vacuum infusion for carbon fiber parts are:

· Vacuum Infusion helps carbon fabric, which tend to be less pliable than fiberglass fabric, conform and press tightly against molds with complex tight and sharp curvatures and hard-to-reach areas resulting in a high-end “pressed-to-the-surface” look very similar to parts made using a pre-preg carbon process. This helps give the carbon a very nice uniform and flat surface effect, which is what is ultimately desired for a visually appealing carbon part. There are very minimal to no voids on a properly vacuum infused part.

· Vacuum Infusion produces stronger and lighter parts by minimizing resin-to-glass ratio compared to the same parts built using a conventional wet lay-up process. Mechanical property is within 70-80% of pre-preg carbon, which is outstanding considering the significantly lower cost of production.

Vacuum infusion is not easy to execute on non-flat parts. Molds require large flanges and need to be air leak free. The bagging technique is also complicated and tedious and needs to be air leak free as well. A part cannot properly infuse without achieving a perfect air tight seal, meaning zero air leaks. Being able to do this once does not guarantee success the next time around. It is a challenge every time the process is attempted.

BEWARE of companies claiming to offer vacuum infused parts only to supply you with parts made using a conventional wet lay-up technique. Some have gone as far as staging vacuum bag setups trying to “show” they vacuum infused a particular part. If there is no footage or pictures of resin successfully flowing through the laminate and covering the entire area, one should be skeptical. Vacuum infused carbon products command a higher premium than wet lay-up carbon parts, so it important to recognize key features and differences.

· If the carbon weave does not show signs of being pressed against the mold surface, it was most likely not infused.

· If the carbon fabric does not conform along sharp, tight, and complex curvature, it was either bagged improperly or was not infused. It is difficult to achieve this level of uniformity using a hand wet lay-up technique.

· If the part has an unusual amount of voids, it was most likely not vacuum infused as a properly vacuum infused carbon product has minimal to no voids.

· The carbon part should feel noticeably light and strong for its weight.

· The carbon part should have a tight and uniform high-end look comparable to parts made using a pre-preg carbon process.

(Shown in Plain Weave Carbon)

We will provide a list (here) of products we offer currently made using a Vacuum Infusion process:

Mazda FD3S RX-7:

FD3S RX-7 1-Piece 99-Spec

Spec-M (Mazdaspeed Style) 99 Spec Front Lip

Spec-RE2 Street Diffuser

Toyota JZA80 MKIV Supra:

Type-1 Front Lip

Lexus IS-F:

Tom’s Style Spec-TMS Rear Diffuser

Lotus Exige(S2)

Lotus Exige Type 1 Sideskirts/Sidesteps

Future additions:

Vacuum Infused HybridCarbon™ & HybridKevlar™ (Flexible Carbon Fiber!)

Ken — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 22:08:56 +0000

Samples shown in Carbon (Plain Weave).

Our Hybrid™ line is our proprietary material mix we researched and developed to create flexible composite parts. We are well-known for our flexible HybridFRP™ material incorporated into select parts such as bumpers, lips, and sideskirts since 2005. Since flexibility is a key to added durability, our HybridFRP™ line of products is the preferred choice over conventional FRP (fiberglass) parts, which tend to be rigid and brittle.

We have been asked in the past, “Why can’t you build flexible carbon parts if you can build flexible fiberglass parts?” The short answer is – our Hybrid™ mixture is sticky during production application (wet lay-up). Technically, we can build a flexible carbon with our Hybrid™ mixture, however, since the material is sticky, it tends to distort the carbon fabric and give it a mushy look. So yes, we could have built flexible carbon parts in the past, but it would not have looked appealing. This problem was overcome when we integrated a vacuum infusion process.
Our new Vacuum Infused HybridCarbon™ & HybridKevlar™ technology allows us an opportunity to finally introduce to the automotive after-market a flexible carbon fiber product. Vacuum infusion allows us to infuse our Hybrid™ mix into the carbon while keeping the carbon fabric relatively intact. This solves the mushy carbon issue, while also providing other added- benefits:

• Vacuum Infusion helps carbon fabric, which tend to be less pliable than fiberglass fabric, conform and press tightly against molds with complex tight and sharp curvatures and hard-to-reach areas resulting in a high-end “pressed-to-the-surface” look very similar to parts made using a pre-preg carbon process. This helps give the carbon a very nice uniform and flat surface effect, which is what is ultimately desired for a visually appealing carbon part.

• Vacuum Infusion produces stronger and lighter parts compared to the same parts built using a conventional wet lay-up process. Mechanical property is within 70-80% of pre-preg carbon, which is outstanding considering the significantly lower cost of production.

For iOS users, click “here” to watch a video demonstration of our Vacuum Infused HybridCarbon™ flexibility.

We will only be applying this new-found process to select parts – mainly Carbon or Kevlar front lips. The vacuum infusion process can only be consistently executed with molds built a very specific way, which means we can’t apply the infusion process to our current molds unfortunately. To expand our HybridCarbon™ line, we will have rebuild old molds a new way and move forward building new molds the new way.

We will provide a list (here) of products currently offered in HybridCarbon™ & HybridKevlar™:

Mazda FD3S RX-7:

FD3S RX-7 1-Piece 99-Spec

Spec-M (Mazdaspeed Style) 99 Spec Front Lip

Spec-RE2 Street Diffuser

Toyota MA70 MKIII Supra:

Type-2 Front Lip

Spec-B3(Pre89) Front Lip

Toyota JZA80 MKIV Supra:

Type-1 Front Lip

Spec-R Front Bumper

Toyota SW20 MR-2:

Spec-A Front Lip

Lexus IS-F:

Type-AG (Aimgain Style) Front Aero Bumper

Type-TMS (Tom’s Style) Front Diffuser

Honda NA1/NA2 NSX: