In this study, the effective thermal conductivity tensor of carbon/epoxy laminates was investigated experimentally in the three states of a typical LCM-process: dry-reinforcement, raw and cured composite. Samples were made of twill-weave carbon fabric impregnated with epoxy resin. The transverse thermal conductivity was determined using a classical estimation algorithm, whereas a special testing apparatus was designed to estimate in-plane conductivity for different temperatures and different states of the composite. Experimental results were then compared to modified Charles & Wilson and Maxwell models. The comparison showed clearly that these models can be used to accurately and efficiently predict the effective thermal conductivities of wovenreinforced composites.

Multiple water jets and a cross airflow are used to cool a mould segment in a homogeneous and automated manner. An average temperature difference of less than 3 °C and a maximum temperature difference of less than 6 °C were obtained along the length of the surface of the test segment during the entire duration of the cooling process as opposed to the traditional channel cooling approach were the mean and maximum temperature differences increase over time. The top surface of the test segment represents the mould/part interface which is of interest in this study. Using model predictive control (MPC) and a data driven predictive model, the cooling speed of the test segment's top surface was able to be maintained within ± 5 °C of the cooling ramp imposed. The results were compared to the results obtained when using a simpler On/Off algorithm for automated cooling. Compared to the simpler On/Off algorithm, there was an improvement in the accuracy of the cooling ramp with respect to its reference value of over 30 % for most cooling ramps tested (5 – 25 °C/min). A parametric study on the influence of the flow rates of the fluids on the cooling speed of the test segment's surface was also conducted.

In this study, the effective thermal conductivity tensor of carbon/epoxy laminates was investigated experimentally in the three states of a typical LCM-process: dry-reinforcement, raw and cured composite. Samples were made of twill-weave carbon fabric impregnated with epoxy resin. The transverse thermal conductivity was determined using a classical estimation algorithm, whereas a special testing apparatus was designed to estimate in-plane conductivity for different temperatures and different states of the composite. Experimental results were then compared to modified Charles & Wilson and Maxwell models. The comparison showed clearly that these models can be used to accurately and efficiently predict the effective thermal conductivities of woven-reinforced composites.