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Vacuum Infusion Technology |
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Vacuum Infusion - The Process of Resin Infusion Introduction: The Vacuum Infusion Process (VIP) is a technique that uses vacuum pressure to drive resin into a laminate. Materials are laid dry into the mold and the vacuum is applied before resin is introduced. Once a complete vacuum is achieved, In a typical hand lay-up, reinforcements are laid into a mold and manually wet out using brushes, rollers, or through other means. An improvement on that method is to use a vacuum bag to suck excess resin out of the laminate. Vacuum bagging greatly improves the fiber-to-resin ratio, and results in a stronger and lighter ski or product. Vacuum infusion builds upon these principles of the vacuum bag, providing further improvements to the lamination process. Overall, this means we can put roughly an extra 43 % more fibreglass materials into our skis, whilst still maintaining a weight of 18kg (SLSA minimum weight). This combined with the type of joining and internal reinforcing materials we use, makes Blade one of the toughest and most durable skis on the market today. For these same reasons, vacuum infusions is used extensively in the manufacture and production of anything that requires superior strength at a minimum weight such as jet-fighter planes and ocean racing yatchs. Benefits of Vacuum Infusion: Vacuum infusion provides a • Better fiber-to-resin ratio (increased strength for decreased weight) VIP offers a better fiber-to-resin ratio than vacuum bagging. A typical hand lay-up usually results in excess of 100% fabric weight by resin. Resin alone is very brittle, so any excess will actually weaken the part. Vacuum bagging can reduce this number significantly; however, it is still not ideal and can lead to additional problems. While vacuum bagging certainly improves on the hand lay-up, there is still a hand lay-up involved. Because of this, the laminate will always begin in an oversaturated state. Vacuum pressure will remove much of the excess resin, but the amount removed still depends on a variety of variables including reinforcement, resin, time factors, and others. Vacuum infusion takes a different approach, in that a vacuum is drawn while the materials are still dry. From that point, resin is infused using vacuum pressure. Rather than starting with excess and drawing resin out, VIP starts with none and pushes resin in. Ideally, any excess resin that is introduced will eventually be sucked out into the vacuum line. As a result, only the minimum amount of resin is introduced. This lowers weight, increases strength, and maximizes the properties of fiber and resin. Parts constructed using VIP can approach prepreg levels of resin content. Due to the nature of VIP, resin usage becomes very predictable. While a standard lay-up varies in resin content due to the human variable, VIP is remarkably consistent. Even when creating a large product, resin usage will be predictably similar upon repeated attempts. This again means a more consistent weight of just on 18kg. This new technology also addresses on of our key issues, being the impact on our environment. Vacuum-Infusion totally stops the release of gases and harmful chemicals into the atmosphere that would contribute to the pollution of our planet. All in all - this makes you happy, us happy and the environment happy!
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resin is literally sucked into the laminate via carefully placed tubing. This process is aided by an assortment of supplies and materials.
number of improvements over traditionally vacuum bagged parts.These benefits include: