Numerical simulation of the resin transport through fiber reinforcement medium

Abstract

This paper describes the numerical simulation of the RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) process applied to the modeling of the resin transport through a fibrous reinforcement. The molding volume which is to be impregnated with the resin is considered as a porous medium and the Darcy equation is used to determine the resin transport velocity through the mold. A control volume finite element method is used for the determination of the pressure gradients inside the mold and the resin flow front advance is obtained using a FAN technique. The finite volume method was built to be used with a bi-dimensional unstructured grid, hence allowing the discretization of complex geometries. In the simulation presented here, resin physical properties, like viscosity and density, and the permeability of the media were kept constants.