Abstract
In this study, we propose an integrated particle approach based on the coupling of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and discrete element method (DEM) to predict the injection molding process of discrete short fibers. The fibers in the coupled SPH-DEM model are treated as non-rigid bodies to allow deformation and fracture. The interaction between resin and fibers is solved by a physical model to take into consideration of drag forces. Two cases of injection molding process with different volume fractions of short fibers are studied to predict the flow behaviors of fibers and resin. The numerical results qualitatively agree with previous experimental studies. It is found that the velocity contour of resin flow is parabolic in shape due to the velocity gradient near the wall boundaries and consequently the moving direction of fibers is in parallel with the flow direction of resin. Fiber accumulation is found in the case with higher content of short fibers.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Yashiro S, Sasaki H, Sakaida Y (2012) Particle simulation for predicting fiber motion in injection molding of short-fiber-reinforced composites. Compos A: Appl Sci Manuf 43(10):1754–1764
Yashiro S, Okabe T, Matsushima K (2011) A numerical approach for injection molding of short-fiber-reinforced plastics using a particle method. Adv Compos Mater 20(6):503–517
Advani SG, Tucker CL III (1987) The use of tensors to describe and predict fiber orientation in short fiber composites. J Rheol 31(8):751–784
Gupta M, Wang K (1993) Fiber orientation and mechanical properties of short-fiber-reinforced injection-molded composites: simulated and experimental results. Polym Compos 14(5):367–382
Chung S, Kwon T (1996) Coupled analysis of injection molding filling and fiber orientation, including in-plane velocity gradient effect. Polym Compos 17(6):859–872
Ramazani A, Ait-Kadi A, Grmela M (1997) Rheological modelling of short fiber thermoplastic composites. J Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech 73(3):241–260
Sun X, Gan Y, Lasecki J, Zeng D, Qi L, Li L, et al. (2013) Evaluation of fiber orientation prediction of Moldflow using an injection molded IP panel. In: Proceedings of International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference. Wisconsin, USA, Conference June, Conference. p. V001T01A39
Oumer AN, Hamidi NM, Sahat IM (2015) Numerical prediction of flow induced fibers orientation in injection molded polymer composites. The 3rd International Conference on Mechanical Engineering Research Pahang, Malaysia. p. 012066
Modhaffar I, Gueraoui K, El-tourroug H, Men-la-yakhaf S (2014) Numerical study of short fiber orientation in simple injection molding processes. In: Proceedings of AIP Conference Proceedings. Fethiye, Turkey, Conference April, Conference. p. 020071
Thi TBN, Morioka M, Yokoyama A, Hamanaka S, Yamashita K, Nonomura C (2014) Numerical prediction of fiber orientation in injection-molded short-fiber/thermoplastic composite parts with experimental validation. In: Proceedings of AIP Conference Proceedings Fethiye, Turkey, Conference April, Conference. p. 110011
Folgar F, Charles L, Tucker I (1984) Orientation behavior of fibers in concentrated suspensions. J Reinf Plast Compos 3(2):98–119
Yamamoto S, Matsuoka T (1996) Dynamic simulation of microstructure and rheology of fiber suspensions. Polym Eng Sci 36(19):2396–2403
Yamamoto S, Matsuoka T (1999) Dynamic simulation of rod-like and plate-like particle dispersed systems. Comput Mater Sci 14(1):169–176
Koshizuka S, Nobe A, Oka Y (1998) Numerical analysis of breaking waves using the moving particle semi-implicit method. Int J Numer Methods Fluids 26(7):751–769
Koshizuka S (2011) Current achievements and future perspectives on particle simulation technologies for fluid dynamics and heat transfer. J Nucl Sci Technol 48(2):155–168
Von Turkovich R, Erwin L (1983) Fiber fracture in reinforced thermoplastic processing. Polym Eng Sci 23(13):743–749
Skoptsov KA, Sheshenin SV, Galatenko VV, Malakho AP, Shornikova ON, Avdeev VV, Sadovnichy VA (2016) Particle simulation for predicting effective properties of short fiber reinforced composites. Int J Appl Mech 8(02):1650016
He L, Lu G, Chen D, Li W, Chen L, Yuan J, et al. (2017) Smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulation for injection molding flow of short fiber-reinforced polymer composites. J Compos Mater 36(19): 1431-1438
He L, Lu G, Chen D, Li W, Lu C (2017) Three-dimensional smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulation for injection molding flow of short fiber-reinforced polymer composites. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 25(5):055007
Wu K, Yang D, Wright N (2016) A coupled SPH-DEM model for fluid-structure interaction problems with free-surface flow and structural failure. Comput Struct 177:141–161
Wu K, Yang D, Wright N, Khan A. (2017) An integrated particle model for fluid-particle-structure interaction problems with free-surface flow and structural failure. Journal of fluids and structures 76: 166-184
Sun X, Sakai M, Yamada Y (2013) Three-dimensional simulation of a solid–liquid flow by the DEM–SPH method. J Comput Phys 248:147–176
Itasca Consulting Group I. (2011) PFC 5.0 documentation
Liu G-R, Liu MB (2003) Smoothed particle hydrodynamics: a meshfree particle method. World Scientific, Singapore
Ergun S (1952) Fluid flow through packed columns. Chem Eng Prog 48:89–94
Wen C, Yu Y (2013) Mechanics of fluidization. Chem Eng Prog Symp Ser 62(62):100
Jeffery GB (1922) The motion of ellipsoidal particles immersed in a viscous fluid. In: Proceedings of Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A: mathematical, physical and engineering sciences. Conference, Conference. p. 161–79
Yamamoto S, Inoue Y, Higashi T, Matsuoka T (1999) Microstructure prediction of injection molded parts of particle dispersed thermoplastics by particle simulation method. Trans Jpn Soc Mech Eng Ser A 65(631):506–513
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editor and reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.
Funding
This study is provided by the School of Civil Engineering, the University of Leeds for financial support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Wu, K., Wan, L., Zhang, H. et al. Numerical simulation of the injection molding process of short fiber composites by an integrated particle approach. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 97, 3479–3491 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-2204-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-2204-6