As one looks at SAMPE technical conference and symposia proceedings over the past 10-15 years,
one quickly notes that the area of “resin infusion technology” dominates a large number of the
session’s papers. The scope of the “resins infusion technology” market also presents itself in a
number of focused areas by other terms such as: liquid molding, resin transfer molding (RTM),
vacuum-assisted RTM (VARTM), preforms, vacuum infusion processing (VIP) and SCRIMP™ (for
Bill Seemann’s composite resin infusion molding process). Obviously there are a number of key
parts to understanding “resin infusion technology” and the long list of acronyms commonly tossed
about within this field often creates more confusion than understanding.

While it appears that resin infusion technology has been with us for a number of years, its growth in
both aerospace and commercial markets has really only taken off since the late 1980’s. Traditional
plastics processing products have used resin infusion for years but on a scale and direction markedly
different that what we think of it in the advanced composites per se. While many associated
processes are embedded in plastics technology, resin infusion as we know and practice it today are
focused on much higher fiber volume levels and complex structural reinforcements than typically
considered within the plastics industry. However, the plastics industry did lay much of the groundwork
for today’s processes (and high level of interest).

There were some key factors that have led to the growth interest in today’s advanced composites
resin infusion as noted in Table 1:

Table 1. Key Historical Developments for Current Resin Infusion Technologies