Compaction of thick composites: Simulation and experiment

Abstract

A realistic process simulation model for heat transfer and compaction along the bleeder-composite assembly was developed. Two case studies were presented with this model in which one took advantage of variable resin properties while the other used constant values. The predicted results were then experimentally validated with 228-ply and 380-ply AS4/3501-6 graphite/epoxy laminates cured under onedimensional resin flow condition. The model-experiment correlation was quite good for the 228-ply laminate, although results with variable resin properties predicted better through-the-thickness temperature distribution than with constant resin properties. The model also predicted faster compaction rate because the compressibility model appeared to predict higher fiber volume fraction for given effective stress. As for the 380-ply laminate, notable deviations were observed for both the temperature and compaction predictions. The discrepancies appeared to have manifested from inaccurate resin property and compressibility models.

Finite element modeling of consolidation of composite laminates

“…Furthermore, some simulation results are compared with the experimental results reported in Ref. [12]. Figure 4 shows its cure cycle.…”

“…In this section, we validate the present finite element formulation by a consolidation simulation of AS4/3501-6 graphite/ epoxy thick laminate [12]. The graphite/epoxy composite contains Hercules Corporation's 3501-6 resin, reinforced with unidirectional AS4 graphite fiber.…”

“…To overcome this difficulty, a modular approach is typically employed for modeling the entire process [3]. The "flow-compaction" module is an important one to which many researchers [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] have directed their attention. In this article, we focus our attention on the "flow-compaction" module.…”

Integrated analysis on cure–microstructure–property–deformation correlation of carbon fiber reinforced resin composites

“…The fiber volume fraction is 0.5. The basic parameters related to the material and reaction kinetics are listed in Table 1 [3,20]. The three-dimensional (3D) finite element model (FEM) is constructed using a commercial software, COMSOL 4.3a.…”

Finite element modeling of curing of epoxy matrix composites

“…Numerous studies have been directed at the modeling and simulation of various aspects of the consolidation and cure of composite laminates,1–17 including resin flow, cure kinetics, and void growth. Loos and Springer1 developed a model that assumed pressure gradients in both the vertical and horizontal directions, but they computed the flow separately in the two directions.…”