An ICME Approach to Performance Prediction of Composites Manufactured Using Resin Transfer Molding

Abstract

The focus of this paper is to develop an integrated multi-physics and multiscale modeling framework to predict process-induced dimensional change of composite parts manufactured using the Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) technique. The Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) approach is adopted to link the constituent materials properties to the resulting composite performance through physics-based process models across multiple length scales. The proposed integrated modeling tool encompasses a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based resin infusion model, a coupled flow compaction model, and a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) based thermo-viscoelastic residual stress model at the micro- and macro-scales. A novel numerical scheme is developed to couple the CFD and FEA simulations to understand (1) how the deformation of the fabric affects the flow front during the resin infusion process and (2) how the infusion process affects the subsequent curing process and the resulting composite performance. The process-induced dimensional change of an RTM curved flange is used as a representative example to demonstrate the predictive capability of the proposed modeling toolkit. A closed loop from processing to performance evaluation established from the integrated toolkit can pave the way for process optimization to achieve specified design objectives