Non-isothermal 2-D flow/3-D thermal developments encompassing process modelling of composites: flow/thermal/cure formulations and validations

In the manufacturing process of large geometrically complex components comprising of bre-reinforced com- posite materials by resin transfer molding (RTM), the process involves injection of resin into a mold cavity lled with porous bre preforms. The overall success of the RTM manufacturing process depends on the complete impregnation of the bre mat by the polymer resin, prevention of polymer gelation during ll- ing, and subsequent avoidance of dry spots. Since a cold resin is injected into a hot mold, the associated physics encompasses a moving boundary value problem in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary study of ow=thermal and cure kinetics inside the mold cavity. Although experimental validations are indispensable, routine manufacture of large complex structural geometries can only be enhanced via computational simula- tions, thus eliminating costly trial runs and helping the designer in the set-up of the manufacturing process. This study describes the computational developments towards formulating an e ective simulation-based de- sign methodology using the nite element method. The speci c application is for thin shell-like geometries with the thickness being much smaller than the other dimensions of the part. Due to the highly advective nature of the non-isothermal conditions involving thermal and polymerization reactions, special computational considerations and stabilization techniques are also proposed. Validations and comparisons with experimental results are presented whenever available.