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Resin flow modeling in compliant porous media: an efficient approach for liquid composite molding

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Abstract

In Liquid Composite Molding (LCM) processes such as Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) and Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM), complete saturation of reinforcement with resin during the injection step is necessary. In RTM, reinforcement experiences no deformation during infusion but for other methods reinforcement thickness changes during the injection. To model resin flow in compliant media, RTM flow simulation software is routinely used. It has been successful in predicting flow patterns if appropriate “effective” permeability is used. The proper approach requires new implementation that couples the deformation and pressure field which is computationally more demanding. Our work describes a computationally efficient methodology to add corrections into RTM simulation environment to account for deformation. This approach is verified with known solutions and experimental validation. The simulation is applied to a complex geometry which demonstrates better computational performance and confirms that the “effective” permeability may be used to model flow in complex geometries.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant number 0856399. The authors thank Minyoung Yun for conducting the validation experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Center for Composite Materials 202 Composites Manufacturing Science Laboratory, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Pavel Simacek & Suresh G. Advani

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  1. Pavel Simacek
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  2. Suresh G. Advani
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Correspondence to Suresh G. Advani.

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Simacek, P., Advani, S.G. Resin flow modeling in compliant porous media: an efficient approach for liquid composite molding. Int J Mater Form 11, 503–515 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12289-017-1360-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12289-017-1360-9

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