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1.)Design Flexibility

When designing in FRP, material selection is made complex by the multiplicity of possible resin / fiber combinations. With RTM, however, the designer has the flexibility of tailoring the materials more closely to the applied loading system (specific strength) and fabricate shapes which are difficult, if not impossible, to form using more conventional methods.

RTM allows the molder to easily incorporate core materials for strength and weight savings, complicated inserts, bosses, ribs, undercuts, etc.(back)

2.)Low Start-up Cost

Equipment, tooling and other start-up costs are a fraction of the capital costs associated with matched-mold operations. Lower initial costs mean shorter design life possibilities for products.

With very short in-house lead times for tooling (along with lower costs), RTM is ideal for low-run prototype development work as well as full scale production.(back)

3.)Surface Finish

Both sides of RTM-made components will have high quality finished surfaces. Various finish effects can be easily designed into the tool surface. Surface finish on both sides of a component can be excellent way for a molder to differentiate his product from that of his competitor.(back)

4.)Faster Production

Depending on such factors as resin reactivity, heated vs. unheated tools, part size, etc., RTM-made parts can be produced at the rate of 5-20 times faster then conventional techniques.(back)

5.)Labor Savings

Labor/part cost with RTM is significantly lower then other FRP manufacturing processes. The exception is compression molding but much lower capital cost (up to 90% lower) make RTM more attractive unless volumes of 50,000+ parts are required. Furthermore, RTM does not require skilled operators such as with hand lay-up or spray-up.(back)

6.)Dimensional Tolerances

RTM parts can be designed around very tight tolerances (i.e. +0.005") in the X, Y and Z product planes.(back)

7.)Part Reproducibility

Controlled tolerances provide for excellent reproducibility on a part to part basis. This permits very accurate cost estimating and tight cost control.(back)

8.)Low Material Wastage

As little as 2-3% wastage rates are readily achievable. Proper mold design, tight product pinch-offs, less preforms and accurate, controllable injection equipment assist greatly in keeping waste to a minimum.(back)

9.)Filler Additives

Given the relatively low viscosity of injection quality resins, very high filler loadings can be realized. The addition of fillers to resin will produce properties such as enhanced fire resistance, lower exotherm, less shrinkage and, above all, lower materials cost considerably.(back)

10.)Higher Volume Fractions

While most industrial moldings typically have a volume fraction in the range of 15-20%, RTM will allow the molder to achieve volume fractions as high as 65%. Volume Fraction is the percentage of a mold cavity taken up by the reinforcement. The higher the volume fraction, the greater the strength of the finished part.(back)

11.)Environmental Compliance

Because the process involves the use of closed molds, styrene monomer emissions are kept to an absolute minimum. Without ventilation of any kind, the RTM process produces less than 10% of the emissions of hand lay-up and spray-up. RTM will fall well within any minimum standards for emission currently in place or under consideration by regulatory authorities. Furthermore, the need for much simpler ventilation systems (if required at all) will add considerably to the molder's bottom line.(back)