Abstract
Thermostamping of thermoplastic matrix composites is a process where a preheated blank is rapidly shaped in a cold matching mould. Predictive modelling of the main physical phenomena occurring in this process requires an accurate prediction of the temperature field. In this paper, a numerical method is proposed to simulate this heat transfer. The initial three-dimensional heat equation is handled using an additive decomposition, a thin shell assumption, and an operator splitting strategy. An adapted resolution algorithm is then presented. It results in an alternate direction implicit decomposition: the problem is solved successively as a 2D surface problem and several one-dimensional through thickness problems. The strategy was fully validated versus a 3D calculation on a simple test case and the proposed strategy is shown to enable a tremendous calculation speed up. The limits of applicability of this method are investigated with two parametric studies, one on the thickness to width ratio and the other one on the effect of curvature. These conditions are usually fulfilled in industrial cases. Finally, even though the method was developed under linear assumption (constant material properties), the strategy validity is extended to multiply, temperature dependant (nonlinear) case using an industrial test case. Because of the standard methods involved, the proposed ADI method can readily be implemented in existing software.
Highlights
IntroductionThermoplastic composites offer new possibilities for the industry
In this paper, starting from a very general approximation framework as given by Equation (1), we propose a reduced numerical scheme, adapted to thin composite shells, that preserves the three-dimensional nature of the heat transfer problem but takes advantage of the good physical separation between in-plane and out-of-plane phenomena, even in case of anisotropic thermal properties
The present paper proposes an operator splitting strategy adapted to the composite shell problems to solve the reduced heat transfer model
Summary
Thermoplastic composites offer new possibilities for the industry. The ability to fuse thermoplastic resins gives new perspectives for forming processes. The thermostamping process is derived from the metallic materials industry. A semi-finished thermoplastic flat laminate, called the blank, is heated above the processing temperature of the matrix, usually using infra-red lamps. This hot blank is quickly transferred to a cooled mould where it is stamped and given its final shape [1] [2]. The heating and cooling steps are separated. This results in an high production rate that makes this process very attractive for the industry
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