OPEN (CONTACT) MOULDING

Open (Contact) moulding

It is a process, which uses a rigid one-sided mould that imparts the surface finish to one side of the component. The thickness of the composite product is determined by the amount of the composite layers deposited. This process is invariably carried out at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. Two variations of open moulding are hand layup or wet layup (manual) and spray up (mechanised), as shown schematically in figure 1 and 2 below.

Fig. 1: Hand Lay-up Process

Fig. 2:  Spray Lay-up Process