Analysis of the Saturation in Liquid Composite Molding Processes Using an Essentially Non-Oscillatory (ENO) Technique

Llanos Gascón (1) , Juan Antonio García (1) , Francisco Chinesta (2) , Edu Ruiz (3) , François Trochu (3)

1 UPV - Universitat Politècnica de València = Universitad Politecnica de Valencia = Polytechnic University of Valencia
2 GeM - Institut de Recherche en Génie Civil et Mécanique
3 CREPEC - Centre de Recherche en Plasturgie et Composite

In the manufacturing of composite parts by Liquid Composite Molding process (LCM), complete saturation of the fibrous reinforcement is key. Incomplete saturation leads to voids within the fibers which cause failure of the final product. Thus, understanding of the formation of voids is necessary for proper molding. In order to analyze the formation of voids during the resin impregnation process, a one-dimensional solution based on two-phase flow through a porous medium, is proposed. This model leads to the introduction of relative permeability as a function of saturation and a modified equation for the saturation as a non-linear advection-diffusion equation with viscous and capillary phenomena, which depends on a number of factors. A detailed analysis is performed to assess the relative significance of the various input parameters on the saturation profiles. In order to numerically solve the modified saturation equation for the LCM process a high order essentially non-oscillatory (ENO) technique is proposed. The implemented algorithm allows a numerical optimization of the injected flow rate, which minimizes the micro/macroscopic void formation during mold filling. Some numerical results are presented and compared with the results taken from literature in order to validate the proposed mathematical model and the numerical scheme.

Mots clés: Liquid Composite Molding; Saturation; Void; Essentially Non-Oscillatory Techniques

Domaines: Mécanique [physics.med-ph]; Matériaux

Llanos Gascón, Juan Antonio García, Francisco Chinesta, Edu Ruiz, François Trochu. Analysis of the Saturation in Liquid Composite Molding Processes Using an Essentially Non-Oscillatory (ENO) Technique. 10th International Conference on Flow Processes in Composite Materials, Jul 2010, Ascona, Switzerland. ⟨hal-01007889⟩