Quality problems in the polymer composite products are mainly attributed to design flaws, material inconsistencies, defects in manufacturing process, unqualified manpower, use of primitive technology, and defective machines. The purpose of this research is to develop a generic framework of quality for polymer composite manufacturing, which is validated and optimized through determining flexure properties by Taguchi method. To test the proposed framework, 27 polymer composite laminates were produced according to Taguchi L27 orthogonal array by varying thirteen key process parameters including laminates' thickness, weight, fiber pattern, matrix, core type, resin and hardener mixing time, viscosity, layup pattern, tooling, cure, temperature, labour and process techniques. Flexure strength was defined as quality characteristic, and accordingly, effects of the selected parameters on flexural properties were studied through three-point bending test. Results of the study reveal that fiber pattern, cure, tooling type, and layup pattern are the most significant variables influencing flexure stress, whereas fiber pattern, matrix, resin hardening mixing time, and process techniques have significant effect on flexure strain. The optimized levels of each control parameter for flexure stress and strain were obtained, and results were validated through predictive analysis. Findings of this study and the proposed framework are useful for polymer composite application in aviation, mechanical, sports, automobile, and civil industries. (C) 2017 Sharif University of Technology. All rights reserved.
