Integrated Numerical Simulation for SMC in Compression Molding Process

Abstract

In this work, sheet molding compound (SMC), formed using compression molding process, was investigated by numerical simulation. Integrated numerical simulations, involving both computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM), were used to predict the deformation and flow behavior of SMC in a compression molding process. As part of this work, LS-DYNA, a commercially available FEA software, and Moldex3D were applied to investigate the CSM and CFD behavior respectively in compression molding. The rheological property of a polymer has both solid and fluid behaviors, which was shown as “Figure 1.” Given that, LS-Dyna has difficulty in handling the fluid behavior of the polymer, an integrated procedure between LS-Dyna and Moldex3D was developed where the elasto-plastic deformation was computed by LS-DYNA, and the viscoelastic fluid flow was simulated by Moldex3D in the compression process. The initial charge shape, temperature, stress tensor, and anisotropic material property were computed by LS-DYNA, then these physical variables were projected to Moldex3D to continue the compression molding analysis. The results of the flow behaviors and warpage showed that the proposed integration of LS-DYNA and Moldex3D was successful to simulate the complex behavior of SMC in compression molding.