Numerical Study on Effects of Interaction between Rubber Mould and Lay-up on Consolidation of L-shaped Laminates in Autoclave Process

Abstract

For autoclave process, a rubber mould is widely used to facilitate the pressure transfer of the external pressure to fabricate high performance complex composite structures. The shear interaction between the laminate and the rubber mould may have effects on the actual pressure acting on the part and the resin flow in the laminate during the consolidation process. This paper presents the numerical investigations on the effects of tool-part interaction on the pressure transfer and the consolidation of L-shaped laminates in autoclave process. In order to represent the slippage and the shear action between the laminate and the rubber mould, a shear layer was introduced to the finite element models. Simulations were performed on carbon fiber/bismaleimide (BMI) resin L-shaped laminates molded with the rubber male mould in autoclave. For the quasi-isotropic laminates, the simulated results indicate that the tool-part interaction has significant effects on the resin pressure and the compaction behavior in the corner region of L-shaped laminates, but has little impact on the final thickness of the part. The consideration of the tool-part shear interaction is critical for accurate prediction of the resin pressure in the laminate and is much helpful for analyzing the forming of defects and the quality of the composite parts.