Development of continuous production technology of organo sheet using double belt press
We have developed continuous production technology of organo sheet using double belt press (DBP) (（Fig. 1）). We use multi-roller type DBP machine where the belt gaps can be adjusted to the thickness of the material as it reduces during the impregnation process. Thick material or discontinuous fiber reinforcements can be applied to this process.Clarifying the impregnation behavior is important for the optimization of organo sheet production process. We have investigated this mechanismbased on the experiments, theory and simulation. Fig. 2 shows a simulation tool to predict the DBP impregnation process developed by collaboration with IPCO. This tool is comprised of the impregnation model based on Darcy’s law and heat transfer theory. The resin impregnation and flow behavior under a roller is complicated as shown in Fig. 3. Amodel experiment has been conducted to study the flow behavior.Then,a simulation using PAM-RTM have been studiedtooptimizethe process parameters.We have modified the DBP machine to seek forthe higher production rate. By utilizing induction heating (IH) technology by collaboration with IPCO, we have installed a rapid-heating unit for the steel belt (Fig. 4(a)) and a continuous heating unit for carbon fiber material. The production rate of 1 m/min has been achieved using thispre-heating technology.
