Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) & Light Resin Transfer Molding (LRTM):

is a composites processing method that offers a high potential for tailorability but is currently limited to low-viscosity (easily flowing) thermosetting polymers. In RTM, a textile preform—made by braiding, weaving, or knitting fibres together in a specified design—is placed into a mold, which is then closed and injected with a resin. After consolidation, the mold is opened and the part removed. Preforms can be made in a wide variety of architectures, and several can be joined together during the RTM process to form a multi-element preform offering reinforcement in specific areas and load directions.

Advantages

• Ability to manufacture complicated parts with good surface quality and high precision
• Simple subsequent processing
• Strong flexibility for the mold manufacture and its material selection, ability to produce complicated large components without complex molding equipment, and low investment in equipment and mold
• Easy access to computer aided design (CAD) in the design of molds and products, and local reinforcement for molding structural parts, and convenient manufacture of structural parts with embedded parts and local thickness
• Low volatile emission during process