Hand lay-up is an open-mold composite manufacturing process in which layers of reinforcement material are manually placed in a mold and impregnated with resin. It is one of the most widely used methods for producing large and complex composite structures.
Hand Lay-Up Composite Manufacturing Process
When Should You Use Hand Lay-Up?
Hand lay-up is best suited for low-volume production, large composite structures and applications requiring high flexibility in design. It is commonly used when tooling costs must be minimized and customization is important.
Hand Lay-Up vs RTM – Key Differences
Hand lay-up offers greater flexibility and lower tooling costs, while Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) provides higher repeatability, better surface quality and is more suitable for serial production.
| Property | Hand Lay-Up | RTM |
|---|---|---|
| Production Volume | Low to medium | Medium to high |
| Tooling Cost | Low | Higher |
| Surface Quality | Moderate | High |
| Repeatability | Limited | Excellent |
| Design Flexibility | High | Moderate |
Tensile strength, elasticity,
impact resistance, compression strength
The carrier materials that give the laminates the required physical and mechanical properties (e.g. tensile strength, elasticity, impact resistance, compression strength, etc.) are glass mats, technical fabrics, glass fibre tissue and coremat impregnated using appropriately selected resin.
Advantages of this method
- it makes it possible to manufacture parts of various sizes and varying weight, complexity, design, etc.
- relatively short tool preparation time (model + single-sided mould),
- low production start-up costs,
- the method is cost-effective even for single-unit and low-volume orders,
- the products can be fitted with additional adaptation kits and/or reinforcements (metal adaptation kits, PU foams, spacers, balsa, etc.),
- it enables the production of SANDWICH-structured laminates with such arrangements as laminate-core-mat-laminate; laminate-parabéam-laminate, laminate-PU-foam-laminate, etc.
Manufacture
complex and difficult parts
Apart from the technological limitations present in each method (e.g. technological radii, wall inclination), production using this method is, in principle, unlimited. It is possible to manufacture all types of parts – even the most complex and difficult ones.
Looking for Hand Lay-Up Composite Manufacturing?
- Contact Astromal to discuss your composite project.