Special Sensor for the Resin Transfer Molding Process

This post is about a special designed capacitive proximity Sensor, rated for high-temperature and high-pressure. The capacitive sensor can detect the resin fill level inside the Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM Process) mould during injection.

The BCS013E is a special designed capacitive sensor, to mount directly into the mold for Resin Transfer Molding. It is rated for high-temperature and high-pressure to detect the resin fill level inside the mould at the process of Resin Transfer Moulding.

Resin Transfer Molding Process RTM

This RTM process is used e.g. to manufacture fiber reinforced polymer composites or carbon fiber composites for lightweight parts like CFK auto parts, used in todays electric driven cars (e.g BMW i3 & i8), surfboards, aircraft components and many others.

The challenge is to detect resin when the mould is filled completely to avoid overfilling, while there is high temperature and pressure inside the cavity.

The sensor is mounted inside the cavity of the mould, to sense the presence of resin material during the injection process. The location where the sensor is mounted is a resin-trap, where the resin collects when the part inside the cavity is filled completely.

Design Details

The BCS013E sensor is designed to work under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions and is mounted inside the cavity of the mould to sense the presence of resin material during the injection process.

To avoid that resin material will remain on the sensor, the flat surface of the sensor has a polished surface.

The sensor indicates when the cavity is filled completely with the liquid resin and the filling process is finished.

The process of Resin Transfer Molding

In this video we show the use of the sensor in composite manufacturing:

More data of the BCS013E sensor you can find here

Technical specifications are available when you follow this link