Resin transfer molding is a popular manufacturing process for composite materials because of its ability to manufacture complex-shaped parts with high efficiency and low pollution. Despite the intense interest in the modeling and simulation of this process, minimization of mold filling time without losing the part quality remains an important issue in the resin transfer molding process. Various methods in the literature are suggested to achieve this. However, inappropriate injection methods lead to numerous air entrapments, and fiber mat deformation. In this study, we are interested in developing and improving new methods to optimize the cycle time. The effects of several parameters on the filling process are deeply investigated. A computer code based on the control volume finite element method is developed to study the mold filling process in all cases. The validity of the computer code used is checked by analytical results and close agreement is found.

International audienceThe numerical simulation of mass and heat transfer model for the curing stage of the resin transfer molding (RTM) process is known as a useful method to analyze the process before the mold is actually built. Despite the intense interest in the modeling and simulation of this process, the relevant work is currently limited to development of flow models during filling stage. Optimization of non-isothermal mold filling simulation time without losing the efficiency remains an important challenge in RTM process. These were some reasons that motivate our work; namely the interested on the amelioration of the performance of RTM simulation code in term of execution time and memory space occupation. Our approach is accomplished in two steps; first by the modification of the control volume/ finite element method (CV/FEM) and second by the implementation in the modified code of an adapted conjugate gradient algorithm to the compressed sparse row storage scheme. The validity of our approach is evaluated with analytical results and excellent agreement was found. The results show that our optimization strategy leads to maximum reduction in time and space memory. This allows one to deal with problems with great and complex dimensions mostly encountered in RTM application field, without interesting in the constraint of space or time

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The optimization in the simulation time of non-isothermal filling process without losing effectiveness remains a challenge in the resin transfer moulding process simulation. We are interested in this work on developing an improved computational approach based on finite element method coupled with control volume approach. Simulations can predict the position of the front of resin flow, pressure and temperature distribution at each time step. Our optimization approach is first based on the modification of conventional control volume/finite element method, then on the adaptation of the iterative algorithm of conjugate gradient to Compressed Sparse Row (CSR) storage scheme. The approach has been validated by comparison with available results. The proposed method yielded smoother flow fronts and reduced the error in the pressure and temperature pattern that plagued the conventional fixed grid methods. The solution accuracy was considerably higher than that of the conventional method since we could proceed in the mesh refinement without a significant increase in the computation time. Various thermal engineering situations can be simulated by using the developed code.

In this work, a computer model has been developed to investigate the effect of reinforcement thickness variation and edge effect on infiltration and mold filling in resin transfer molding (RTM) process. The developed code is able to predict the flow front location of the resin, the pressure, and the temperature distribution at each time step in a mold with complex geometries. It can also optimize the positioning of injection ports and vents. The filling stage is simulated in a full two‐dimensional space by using control volume/finite element method CV/FEM and based upon an appropriate filling algorithm. Results show that the injection time as well as flow front progression depends on the edge effect, the variation of reinforcement thickness, and the position of injection ports; this highlights that the inclusion of these effects in RTM simulation is of definite need for the better prediction and optimization of the process parameters. The validity of our developed model is evaluated in comparison with analytical solutions for simple geometries, and excellent agreements are observed. POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers