Simulation prediction of the preform deformation and resin flow in vacuum infusion process

Prediction of the preform thickness changes occur during processing is a focus and nodus of filling simulation for vacuum infusion process (VI), while accurate preform compaction models are too complicated to be adopted. In this article, an alternative approach is introduced to overcome this problem, in which the preform deformation and the accompanying resin storage/release are calculated in the additional element associated with each unit of the discretized model geometry instead of solving the coupled resin flow/preform deformation governing equations directly, so the complex compaction models can be adopted. Fluent software is used as the development environment to implement the above approach to guarantee the simulation precision and broad applicability. Simulation examples show that the proposed approach can provide fairly accurate predictions, the lubrication effect and the time-delay effect of the preform deformation are well represented in the simulation results. The applicability of the approach introduced in this article on the arbitrary complex domains is also verified. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:1968–1979, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers