Abstract
This work focuses on the development of a numerical mold filling simulation for the rotational molding process. In the rotational molding process, a dry fiber preform is placed in a mold and impregnated with a thermoset matrix under rotation. Additionally, metallic load introduction elements can be inserted into the mold and joined with co-curing or form-fit, resulting in hybrid drive shafts or tie rods. The numerical model can be used to simulate the impregnation of the preform. Based on the resin transfer molding process, an OpenFOAM solver is extended for the rotational molding process. Permeability, kinetic and curing models are selected and adapted to the materials used. A wireless measurement solution with a capacitive sensor is developed to validate the model. Comparisons between measurements and numerically calculated impregnation times to reach the capacitive sensor with the matrix show good quality of the developed model. The average deviation between calculated result and measured mean values in the experiment is 43.8% the maximum deviation is 65.8% . The model can therefore be used to predict the impregnation progress and the curing state.
Highlights
Accepted: 26 October 2021Due to rising emissions of climate-damaging gases, legislative restrictions are increasingly being imposed on the operation of machines, plants and mobility applications [1]
Using the developed numerical solver for the rotational molding process, a simulation is performed in OpenFOAM
The results demonstrate that lower impregnation times can be achieved both with an increase in rotation as well as an increase in temperature, whereby the selected temperature depends on the respective matrix and the number of rotations on the balance quality of the loaded mold
Summary
Accepted: 26 October 2021Due to rising emissions of climate-damaging gases, legislative restrictions are increasingly being imposed on the operation of machines, plants and mobility applications [1]. In addition to shell-shaped FRP components, rotationally symmetrical components such as drive shafts, tubes, rollers or tie rods are of particular importance. These components are often produced using pultrusion, winding, resin transfer molding (RTM) or blow molding [3]. An alternative to these established manufacturing processes is the rotational molding process. Structural components are manufactured for which a dry perform with continuous fiber reinforcement is used [6,7,8,9]
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