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May resin puncture the bag during cure cicle?

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avior

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Nov 24, 2006
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From time to time vacuum leak occure during autoclave cure cicle. Sometimes because bag bridging, or seal compound sliding or vacuum port bridging the bag crash, and sometimes unknown reasons. When inexpilcable bag puncture arrive we chalk it up against resin. I heard that during gelation stage resin may form chips which probably cut through the bag. It is possible that a gummy sticky viscous substance to penetrate a laminated polymer foil plast material?
 
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Viscous resin will not tear your bag but there are plenty of other causes, some of which you noted. Some resins, such as bismaleimide will chemically attack nylon film and degrade it but even that won't puncture the bag unless there is stress on the film. Ideally, you should never bag a part so that the film has to stretch when you pull vacuum. That is not always possible but stretched film is far more likely to tear duing cure than film that is properly pleated so it doesn't have to stretch. Stretched bagging film also applies forces to parts that will cause thinning or thickening of corners.
Probably, the main cause of blown bags is compaction of the part and breather materials during cure which requires the bag to move. If you don't anticipate this movement and place pleats where required to prevent the film from stretching then the film can tear. This is why experience is so valuble vacuum-bagging. Using high stretch film helps to make the process robust, but can also encourage poor bagging technique.
 
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