NUMERICAL PREDICTION OF FIBER ORIENTATION IN INJECTION-MOLDING

We develop a numerical method for calculating fiber orientation in the midsurface of a molded part of small thickness. Two-dimensional fiber orientation is predicted on the basis of either Jeffery's equation or a constitutive equation for the orientation tensor. The calculation is fully transient; it is performed on a time-dependent flow domain. The method is based on finite elements. Updated finite element meshes are generated at every instant of filling and allow one to perform an accurate calculation of the orientation even along the boundary of the flow domain. The method is applied to several examples in plane and three-dimensional geometries.