Numerical Simulation of Three-Dimensional Mold Filling in Resin Transfer Molding

Abstract

Three-dimensional isothermal mold filling of the resin transfer molding (RTM) process is simulated using the control volume finite element method (CV/FEM).Numerical scheme used in this study is based on the formulation of nodal partial saturation at the flow front. This approach enables to include a transient term in the working equation, removing the need for calculation of the time step to track the flow front in conventional scheme. In order to compare the resultsof the nodal partial saturation concept with the conventional method, a numerical scheme based on the quasi-steady state formulation is also presented. The resulting computer codes based on both numerical formulations, allow the prediction of flow front and pressure field in the 3-D molds with complex shapes. The validity of the two schemes is checked by analytical solutions for simple geometries, and experimental observations. Excellent agreements are observed for bothanalytical solutions and experimental results. Numerical examples areprovidedto demonstrate the applicability of the developed computer codes. The agreement between the results of two codes is found to be reasonable. The results show that the CPU time required for the algorithm based on the nodal partial saturation formulation is significantly less than the algorithm based on the quasi-steady state formulation on a personal computer and hence, the first one shows to be quite CPU time effective for the simulation of complicated 3-D geometries. Also, nodal partial saturation approach provides more accurate estimationof the flow front compared with the quasi-steady state approach in molds with complex geometries even at relatively coarse mesh.