Process Modeling in Composites Manufacturing

Abstract

9R13. Process Modeling in Composites Manufacturing. - SG Advani (Univ of Delaware, Newark DE) and EM Sozer (Koc Univ, Istanbul, Turkey). Marcel Dekker, New York. 2003. 436 pp. ISBN 0-8247-0860-1. $175.00.Reviewed by L Mishnaevsky Jr (MPA, Univ of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 32, Stuttgart, D-70569, Germany).This textbook introduces the reader to the concepts and methods of the modeling of polymer composite manufacturing processes on the basis of the fundamental principles of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, theory, and the analysis of the physics of the process. The authors are successful in their aim to create a self-contained text, which systematically demonstrates “how one would go about modeling a composite manufacturing process.”The book is logically divided into three major parts: introduction to the polymer composite materials and manufacturing processes (Ch 1 and 2), theoretical tools and approaches needed to model the processes (Ch 3–5), and the applications of the models to several manufacturing technologies (Chapters 6–8).The microstructures and classifications of polymer matrix composites, properties of polymer matrices (thermoplastic and thermoset resines), and fibers, are discussed in the Introduction.In Chapter 2, Overview of Manufacturing Process, different composites manufacturing techniques are outlined. The manufacturing methods are classified according to the dominant flow processes: short fiber suspension manufacturing methods (processes which involve the transport of fibers and resin as a suspension into a mold or through a die to form a composite; examples: injection and compression molding, extrusion), squeeze flow manufacturing methods (in which the fibers and resin deform together to form a composite shape), and porous media manufacturing methods (in which the resin impregnate and displace the air in a continuous fiber network).In Chapter 3, Transport Equations for Composite Processing, the basics of fluid mechanics and heat transfer are reviewed. The conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy, stress-strain rate relationships, and their application to modeling the resin flow in the presence of fibers are discussed. Many examples with solutions are included in this chapter.In Chapter 4, Constitutive Law and Their Characterization, constitutive equations of resins for different cases are discussed. Physical meaning, mechanisms, and temperature dependence of the viscosity of resins, as well as the effect of bundles of aligned fibers and the short fibers on the mechanical behavior of resin are explained. Modeling of the curing of the resin (kinetics of the reaction of forming 3D network from mono- or oligomers), techniques to monitor cure at macro- and microlevel, and the effect of reinforcement on the curing are described. Then, the authors discuss the mechanisms and the effects of the kinetics of crystallization of thermoplastics during solidification. The permeability concept, which serves as a basis for the analysis of the flow behavior of resin as it impregnates the preform, is described in this chapter as well.Chapter 5, Model Simplifications and Solutions, deals with the techniques of modeling the manufacturing processes on the basis of the physical laws and concepts described in the previous chapter. Several techniques and approaches, which can be useful in formulation of a model and finding a solution, are described: dimensional analysis, commonly accepted assumptions for polymer composites processing (like quasi-steady state assumption, lubrication approximation, this shell approximation), possible simplifications of boundary conditions and geometry, some mathematical techniques (like coordinate transformations, superposition of solutions, decoupling of equations).In Chapters 6 (Short Fiber Composites), 7 (Advanced Thermoplastic Composite Manufacturing Processes), and 8 (Processing Advanced Thermoset Fiber Composites), models of technological processes of the composite manufacturing, based on the ideas and principles given in Chapters 3–5 and grouped according to the classification from Chapter 2, are presented and discussed. Models of flow and heat transfer in the compression molding, a method of screw design in the extrusion process and a model of filling stage in injection molding (Ch 6), a model for consolidation and void reduction during the processing of thermoplastic composites, which is based on the consideration of a squeeze flow of a compressible viscous fluid (Ch 7), and the processes of autoclave molding, liquid composite molding and filament molding (Ch 8) are covered.The book is addressed to seniors and first-year graduate students in materials science and engineering, industrial, mechanical, and chemical engineering, and can also be very useful to specialists in composite manufacturing and modeling, working both in industry and in academia. The book is well structured, and all of the concepts, ideas, and solutions are explained clearly and with many examples and illustrations. Each chapter contains questions and example problems, fill-in-blanks sections, and original figures. The layout of the book is pleasant, and a subject index is available.Process Modeling in Composites Manufacturing is a very good and useful book, and can be highly recommended to students, scientists, and specialists in modeling and manufacturing of composites and to libraries.