Modeling and simulation approaches in the resin transfer molding process: A review

Abstract

A review of current approaches in modeling and simulation of the resin transfer molding (RTM) process is presented. The processing technology of RTM is discussed and some available experimental techniques to monitor the process cycle are presented. A master model is proposed for the entire process cycle consisting of mold filling and curing stages. This master model contains the fundamental and constitutive sub-models for both stages. The key elements of the master model discussed in this study are: flow, heat and mass balance equations for fundamental sub-models, permeability. cure kinetics, resin viscosity and void formation for constitutive sub-models. At the end, numerical methods widely used to simulate the filling process are presented and published simulation results of mold filling and process cycle are reviewed.

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