Able Manufacturing and Assembly, Molded Composites, Metal Fabrication, Thermoformed Plastics and Assembly Operations

Advanced Resin Transfer Molding (R.T.M.)

Process
Resin transfer molding is usually considered an intermediate process between the relatively slow hand lay-up or spray-up and the faster compression-molding methods, which require higher tooling costs. R.T.M. is suitable for medium volume production of rather large fiber reinforced plastic components. R.T.M. components have two finished surfaces but the molded parts require trimming operations. The labor content required to produce parts via R.T.M. is considerably less than that of hand lay-up or spray-up, therefore, the piece price is lower in most cases. It should be noted that Able Mfg.’s R.T.M. operation is more automated than many other R.T.M. molders. This automation leads to reduced scrap rates and shorter cycle times which translates into savings for our customers.

Product
The roof cap of the sleeper on the heavy truck in the lower left picture is molded via Resin Transfer Molding. The top left picture displays the thermoformed continuous strand mat preform and the center picture shows the roof cap being removed from the mold. Able Mfg.specializes in the production of large RTM components.