Simulation of Three-dimensional Flow in Compression Resin Transfer Molding by the Control Volume/Finite Element Method

Abstract

In compression resin transfer molding (CRTM), resin injection and mold closing occur during the mold filling stage. In this paper, numerical simulation of three-dimensional flow in compression resin transfer molding (CRTM) is presented. Numerical method is based on the control volume/finite element method (CVFEM) and the numerical algorithm to update the flow front at each time step is based on quasi-steady state approach. Numerical scheme presented in this article can be used to predict the flow progression, pressure distribution, mold clamping force in full three-dimensional mold. Numerical example provided in the paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the developed numerical simulation in analyzing the CRTM process.