An Inverse method for determining fabric permeability in vacuum assisted resin infusion for composite parts forming

Abstract

Abstract. Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion (VARI) method employs a mould on top of which a number of fabric pieces are laid up and impregnated by resin drawn through vacuum. Simulation of VARI depends on the determination of fabric permeability. In this work, permeability value is selected from a set of discrete values by a genetic algorithm. An impregnation simulation model is run on ComsolTM to compute the flow front propagation inside the fabric. The genetic algorithm compares the evolution (propagation) of the impregnation front, in a space and time dimension, with the corresponding result of one single actual impregnation experiment, obtained by machine vision. A simple part suffices for this experiment assuming homogenous fabric porosity. The computational cost of the method is low, making it superior to experimental determination of permeability on expensive custom-made devices.

Improved genetic algorithm for 2D resin flow model optimization in VARTM process

“…where S is the sink term, its negative sign denoting that resin flow is reduced in the regions of non-saturated intra-tow gaps because it is absorbed by them [15]. Here, we assume that there is no deformation of the preform during the resin impregnation, and the thickness of the mold cavity remains constant.…”