Modeling of post-filling stage in vacuum infusion using compaction characterization

Abstract

Two-dimensional finite-element method solution of the post-filling stage of vacuum infusion was studied based on mass conservation in an infinitesimal control volume. First, resin pressure distribution at the instant of mold filling was calculated and then used as the initial condition for the transient post-filling stage. Explicit time-marching algorithm was used for the evolution of resin pressure and part thickness, and its stability was ensured by selecting the time step adaptively. Finite-element method solution was verified analytically for one-dimensional case and numerically for two-dimensional cases using global mass conservation. The time that it took for the settlement of pressure and thickness was investigated to compare the effectiveness of different resin-bleeding scenarios where different number and locations of gates were used. It was shown that the settlement time increased exponentially as the dimensions of the mold increased, which proved that process simulation fed with correctly designed material characterization can replace tedious trial-and-error search of control actions to reduce the settlement time and variation in part thickness.