Approximate numerical method for prediction of temperature distribution in flow through narrow gaps containing porous media

Abstract

The paper examines an approximate solution to the problem of temperature distribution in the flow through a narrow gap filled with porous medium. This problem is relevant for composite material manufacturing processes, such as the resin transfer molding and its derivatives. In such processes, cold resin is sometimes injected into a closed heated cavity containing a network of stationary fibers. The cavity can be long and wide, but it is usually only a few millimeters thick. The approximate solution is based on an estimated through-the thickness temperature profile that allows one to reduce the complexity from fully threedimensional to two-dimensional and significantly improve the computational efficiency. The implementation of this solution within an existing simulation code for non-isothermal filling of closed mold is briefly described. Finally, several examples are presented to illustrate the accuracy of the proposed method to predict the midplane temperature of the resin as it impregnates the preform to fill the mold cavity.

Numerical implementation and experimental validation of a through-the-thickness temperature model for non-isothermal vacuum bagging infusion

“…The transient to steady state process is pointed to as the cause of the under and over prediction in the results. Accuracy is achieved more properly at the end of the stage than in the beginning of the fill period, which matches with the observations of Simacek and Advani 24 in the 2D validation of the method.…”

“…The polynomial profile used for the through-thethickness temperature gradient is suggested in the work of Advani and Simacek [24][25][26] and is described by Equations ( 8)-( 10):…”