Abstract:
Liquid Composite Molding (LCM) includes a range of composite materials manufacturing processes, for example Resin Transfer Molding (RTM), Injection Compression Molding (I/CM) and flexile-bag processes such as Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (RTM). In these processes, resin is injected under pressure into a fully or partially-compacted fibrous preform before final cure. Mathematical models and numerical simulations of these manufacturing processes lead to better predictions of the filling times and preform final thicknesses, and of the optimal position of inlet gate location and inlet pressures. In this study, the governing equations of LCM are solved using a number of different variants of the Finite Element Method. In particular, a single fixed grid scheme which conserves fluid mass on the element level, and which ensures continuity of fluid flux across inter-element boundaries, is used and is shown to give accurate results.