Bolt Maritiem - Satellite 44
Vacuum Infusion - Inner skin

The infusion of the inner skin was done at Friday 10 May 2002. Because the model was very accurate - due to inclusion of the feeding system and the availability of permeability values from a very similar experiment (whether these values are real permeabilities is questionable, but that is an academic issue) - the predicted and actual filling times matched almost exactly (45 minutes).

Use the controls below the image to view the photographs.

Simulation results

In this case, the entire feeding system and part of the vacuum lines has been included in the model to take into account influence of gravity on the filling time and to be able to see whether all the vacuum points are reached at (approximately) the same time (we do not want to waste lots of resin).The colors in the picture below indicate pressure. You can clearly see the influence of gravity. Pressure is highest at the lowest point. If gravity is not taken into account, you would only see decreasing pressure from inlet to the front and predicted filling time would be smaller (click picture for an animation).

Infusion simulation for inner skin - click for animation (2)

You can also download the animation. Right click on the image (or on the link in the menu at the left) and select 'Save Target As...' (Internet Explorer) or 'Save Link As...' (Netscape Navigator).