Study on the fabrication of the composite skirt by silicon rubber bladder-assisted RTM

The composite skirts for solid rocket motor shells fabricated by VARTM (Vacuum-Assisted Resin Transfer Molding) had poor mechanical properties because the fiber volume fraction was very small. Silicon rubber bladder-assisted RTM (SRBARTM) and VARTM were carried out to fabricate the skirt component in the paper respectively. FRP components were fabricated and the properties were examined. The results showed that the fiber volume fraction of the skirt reached 61%. The tensile and flexural strength of the composites fabricated by SRBARTM improved 29% and 27% respectively compared with those of the composites fabricated by VARTM, and the axial load bearing properties improved more than 30%.