A New Method to Track Resin Flow Fronts in Mold Filling Simulation of RTM Process

A new method to track resin flow fronts, referred to as the topological interpolated method (TIM), which is based onfilling states and topological relations of adjacent nodes was proposed. An experiment on the mould filling process wasconducted. It was compared with exact solutions and the experimental results, and good agreements were observed.Numerical and experimental comparisons with the conventional contour mathod were also carried out, and it showedthat TIM could enhance the local accuracy of flow front solutions with respect to the contour method when mergingflow fronts and resin approaching the mold wall were involved.

Rheological Behavior and Process Prediction of Low Viscosity Epoxy Resin for RTM

The rheological behavior of a low epoxy resin system-SR8100/SD8734 for RTM in aviation industry was studied with viscosity experiments. The dual-Arrhenius rheological model and the improved engineering viscosity model were introduced and compared with the experimental data. The results indicated that the viscosity in the earlier stage calculated by dual-Arrhenius model matched the experimental data. As rising to 400 m.Pas, the viscosity calculated by the improved engineering model was closer to the experimental data. The processing windows of the resin system for RTM were determined by combining the two models, which could predict the theological behavior of the resin system in a more credible way. 30-45 ℃ was the optimum processing temperature.

Three-dimensional finite element analysis of process-induced residual stress in resin transfer molding process

A three-dimensional finite element analysis of process-induced residual stress in resin transfer molding (RTM) process is presented. The finite element method (FEM) was employed to solve the coupled equations involved in the transient heat transfer and the cure kinetics of the resin, and the distributions of internal temperature and cure degree of the composite at any instant time were obtained. The self-consistent field micro-mechanics model was used to predict the cure-dependent mechanical properties of the composites. Thermal expansion and cure shrinkage were included in the analysis. The thermo-elastic mechanical governing equations were solved using the incremental stress-strain relationship based FEM and the residual stress development was predicted. The present results were validated by the comparisons with the pertinent literature. The numerical example of a half cylinder was presented. The results show that it is necessary to carry out the three-dimensional analysis due to the complex distributions of temperatures, cure degrees and process-induced stress for thick parts, which can be predicted at any point within composite structures in the present analysis.

3D Numerical Simulation of Non-isothermal Resin Transfer Molding Filling Process Using Unstructured Tetrahedron Mesh

We present a numerical formulation for resin flow based on the concept of quasi-steady state situation at the flow front. To be fit for complicated product shapes,we use the four-node unstructured tetrahedron mesh based on which the numerical formulation of temperature and degree of cure is developed. The validity of our method is established in the case where ffexible meshes are used. The results show that the numerical procedure,tested on known data,provides numerically valid and reasonably accurate predictions.