Author:

Keywords:

textile composite, fabric/textiles, multi-scale modelling, Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM), Science & Technology, Technology, Engineering, Manufacturing, Materials Science, Composites, Engineering, Materials Science, Textile composite, Fabric/textiles, Multi-scale modelling, BIDIRECTIONAL TEXTILE FABRICS, FIBROUS REINFORCEMENTS, RTM, ARCHITECTURE, COMPOSITES, SHEAR, Resin Transfer Molding, 0901 Aerospace Engineering, 0912 Materials Engineering, 0913 Mechanical Engineering, Materials, 4016 Materials engineering, 4017 Mechanical engineering

Abstract:

The impregnation stage of the Resin Transfer Moulding process can be simulated by solving the Darcy equations on a mould model, with a `macro-scale' finite element method. For every element, a local `meso-scale' permeability must be determined, taking into account the local deformation of the textile reinforcement. This paper demonstrates that the meso-scale permeability can be computed efficiently and accurately by using meso-scale simulation tools. We discuss the speed and accuracy requirements dictated by the macro-scale simulations. We show that these requirements can be achieved for two meso-scale simulators, coupled with a geometrical textile reinforcement modeller. The first solver is based on a finite difference discretisation of the Stokes equations, the second uses an approximate model, based on a 2D simulation of the flow.