Some Issues about the Numerical simulation of Mold Filling in Resin Transfer Molding

The resin impregnation of the fibrous reinforcement in resin transfer molding (RTM) is usually modeled as a flow through a porous medium (Darcy's law). In our model, Darcy equation is solved numerically at each time step using non-conforming finite elements on a fixed grid.

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Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulation of Mold Filling Process in Compression Resin Transfer Molding

Applied Composite Materials ◽

10.1007/s10443-014-9402-7 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 209-230 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Bo Yang ◽

Tianguo Jin ◽

Jianguang Li ◽

Fengyang Bi

Keyword(s):

Numerical Simulation ◽

Resin Transfer Molding ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Mold Filling ◽

Filling Process ◽

Transfer Molding ◽

Compression Resin Transfer Molding

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Fabrication of T-Shaped Structural Composite through Resin Transfer Molding

Journal of Composite Materials ◽

10.1177/002199839502901606 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 29 (16) ◽

pp. 2192-2214 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Wen-Bin Young ◽

Min-Te Chuang

Keyword(s):

Low Cost ◽

Resin Transfer Molding ◽

Mold Filling ◽

Transfer Molding ◽

Rtm Process ◽

Resin Impregnation ◽

Composite Fabrication ◽

Fiber Reinforcements ◽

Fiber Materials ◽

Dry Spot

Resin transfer molding (RTM) combines resin impregnation and composite fabrication in one process. It simplifies the process for composite fabrication and has the advantages of automation, low cost, and versatile design of fiber reinforcements. The RTM process was used in this study to fabricate T-shaped stuctural composites. Edge effects due to the gap between the fiber mats and the mold or the imperfect sealing of the matting mold resulted in edge channeling flows, leading to dry spot enclosure in the composite. It was found that a vacuum in the mold cavity could reduce the size of the dry spot. Proper control or prevention of the edge flows will reduce the possibility of dry spot formation. Numerical simulations of the mold filling were conducted to study the effect of gate locations on the mold filling patterns and edge channeling flows. Mechanical pulling tests were conducted to investigate the joint strengths of the T-shaped structure for different fiber materials. Fiber stitching on the rib provided an improvement in the joint strength while different fiber materials without fiber stitching tended to have the same joint strengths.

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Simulation of Mold Filling in Resin Transfer Molding by Non-Conforming Finite Elements

Computer Aided Design in Composite Material Technology III ◽

10.1007/978-94-011-2874-2_8 ◽

1992 ◽

pp. 109-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

F. Trochu ◽

R. Gauvin ◽

Z. Zhang

Keyword(s):

Finite Elements ◽

Resin Transfer Molding ◽

Mold Filling ◽

Transfer Molding

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A Study on Resin Flow through a Multi-layered Preform in Resin Transfer Molding

Polymers and Polymer Composites ◽

10.1177/096739110201000702 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 493-510 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

D. G. Seong ◽

K Chung ◽

T. J. Kang ◽

J. R. Youn

Keyword(s):

Resin Transfer Molding ◽

Mold Filling ◽

Transverse Flow ◽

Woven Fabrics ◽

Weighted Averaging ◽

Resin Flow ◽

Flow Front ◽

Transfer Molding ◽

Filling Time ◽

Flow Through

In resin transfer molding, mold filling is governed by the flow of resin through a preform which is considered as an anisotropic porous media. The resin flow is usually described by Darcy's law and the permeability tensor must be obtained for filling analysis. When the preform is composed of more than two layers with different in-plane permeability, effective average permeability should be determined for the flow analysis in the mold. The most frequently used averaging scheme is the weighted averaging scheme, but it does not account for the transverse flow between adjacent layers. A new averaging scheme is suggested to predict the effective average permeability of the multi-layered preform, which accounts for the transverse flow effect. When the flow in the mold is unsaturated, the effective average permeability is predicted by using the predicted mold filling time and transverse permeability. The new scheme is verified by measuring the effective permeability of the multi-layered preforms which consist of glass fiber random mats, carbon fiber woven fabrics, aramid fiber woven fabrics. Fluid flow through the preform composed of more than two layers with different in-plane permeability shows different flow fronts between layers. The difference in the flow front advancement is observed with a digital camcorder. The predicted flow front is compared with the experimental results and shows a good agreement. It is expected that the effective average permeability can be used for modeling the resin flow through the multi-layered preform.

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