A method for fabricating fiber-reinforced composite structures, including
centrifuge rotors, by resin transfer molding (RTM) is disclosed. The
method involves loading reinforcing fibers into a mold and then injecting
resin into the mold to coat the fibers to form the composite structure.
Two types of reinforcing fibers are used--fabric preforms at the surfaces
of the structure and chopped fibers at the interior of the structure. Also
disclosed is a fiber-reinforced composite structure comprising a skin
layer of reinforcing fabric, chopped fibers distributed throughout the
interior of the structure, and epoxy resin that binds the fabric and
chopped fibers together into a fiber-reinforced composite structure. The
resin transfer molding method is especially useful for fabricating
composite centrifuge rotors.