A NUMERICAL APPROACH TO MODEL NONISOTHERMAL VISCOUS-FLOW THROUGH FIBROUS MEDIA WITH FREE SURFACES

A numerical simulation is presented to predict the free surface and its interactions with heat transfer and cure for flow of a shear-thinning resin through the fibre preform. the flow part of the simulation is based on the finite element/control volume method. Since the traditional control volume approach produces an error associated with a mass balance inconsistency, a new method which overcomes this issue is proposed, the element control volume method. The heat transfer and cure analysis in the simulation are based on the finite difference/control volume method. Since heat conduction is dominant in the through-thickness direction and most of the heat convection is in-plane, heat transfer and cure are solved in fully three-dimensional form. A simple concept of the boundary condition constant is introduced which models a realistic mould configuration with a heating element located at a distance behind the mould wall. The varying viscosity throughout the mould associated with the strain rate, temperature and degree of cure distribution may be accounted for in calculating the mould-filling pattern. This introduces a two-way coupling between momentum and energy transport in fibrous media during mould filling.