Modeling of flow and thermo-kinetics during the cure of thick laminated composites

Abstract

The present work describes a three-dimensional numerical model developed to simulate and to analyse the mechanisms dealing with resin flow, heat transfer and the cure of thick composite laminates during autoclave processing. The model, which incorporates some of the best features of models already reported in the literature, is based on the Darcy law, the convection-diffusion heat equation, and appropriate constitutive relations. The model's predictions show that the final degree of consolidation is strongly dependent upon the compacting pressure, which corroborates previous work, and, to a great extent, upon the edge bleeding flow—a finding, which had not been clearly identified before in the literature. The simulations were conducted using the parameters that describe the resin kinetics and rheological behavior of Hercules ASA/3501-6 tape, however, the model is general enough to accommodate different types of tape. The predictions are in good agreement with the results available in the literature, notwithstanding a few concerns related to the final consolidation level of the composite.