Mold making for CF shaped tube

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#1

I plan to make shaped large diameter CF & aramid tubes for automotive use. Have a variety of sizes and shapes to do – all with bends in them and am looking for a less costly method of making split molds than CNC aluminium.

Mold should be able to withstand repeated cycles of the application of internal pressure - up to 2 bar from an inserted bladder, overall vacuum, and heat up to 150C in an oven.

I have found wealth of good information on materials and lay up on this Forum I would appreciate any tips or referral to any mold making materials that could cope with the above.

#2

Why is the tooling going to be subjected to both pressure and vacuum?

#3

look into profile tooling resin. it uses ATH as a filler so that it can handle elevated temps (not too sure of how high) ive used it quite a bit but only up to around 100 degrees c.
epoxy tooling such as huntsman rengel and renlam are good too i have heard.

#4

Try contacting Bondline Products (562) 921-1972

#5

Many thanks for your inputs, which I am pursuing.

I have also checked out other relevant threads on the site and found a lot of excellent information.

I thought I would provide more info on what I am trying to do - to find the best mold forming material for the job.

I have alum versions of all of the shaped tubes that I want to replicate in CF. They are air intake and intercooler pipes. They range from 76.2mm to 63.5mm and about 2mm thick walls - A total of 7 tubes. Some need to cope with up to 2.5 bar pressure and 120C temp in service.

I was planning to:-
Use Resin Film Infusion method in split molds - A resin film against the mold to avoid pin-holing and a film between a CF sleeve and one or two aramid sleeves, using an internal pressure bladder.
Consolidate job in vacuum bag to assist resin flow and using an ordinary oven to heat to around 120C.
I am aiming for a flat ‘semi-dry’ finish to the CF.

Need a molding material suitable to form a split mold and that will cope with the above process and be reusable.
Production quantities circa 20 of each tube.
Longest shaped tube is 400mm.

I have checked out CNC alum molds and cost is prohibitive so need a more economical means of forming such molds for which I have the plugs.

I have only worked in FRP previously for car panels. I would appreciate any guidance to suitable mold forming materials for me to investigate and any comments / suggestions re my planned production process.