Permeability Prediction in the Impregnation Stage of Resin Transfer Moulding

Abstract:

The impregnation stage of the Resin Transfer Moulding process can be simulated by solving the Darcy equations on a mould model, with a ‘macro-scale’ finite element method. For every element, a local ‘meso-scale’ permeability must be determined, taking into account the local deformation of the textile reinforcement. This paper demonstrates that the meso-scale permeability can be computed efficiently and accurately by using meso-scale simulation tools. We discuss the speed and accuracy requirements dictated by the macro-scale simulations. We show that these requirements can be achieved for two meso-scale simulators, coupled with a geometrical textile reinforcement modeller. The first solver is based on a finite difference discretisation of the Stokes equations, the second uses an approximate model, based on a 2D simulation of the flow.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 160-162)
• Pages: 1211-1216
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.160-162.1211
• Online since: November 2010
• Authors: Zhuang Liu, Xiao Qing Wu
• Keywords: Fabric, Multi-Scale Modelling, Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM), Textile Composite

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