A Numerical Thermo-Chemo-Flow Analysis of Thermoset Resin Impregnation in LCM Processes
This paper presents a numerical framework for modelling and simulating convection–diffusion–reaction flows in liquid composite moulding (LCM). The model is developed in ANSYS Fluent with customised user-defined-functions (UDFs), user-defined-scalar (UDS), and user-defined memory (UDM) codes to incor...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Polymers |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/6/1572 |
| _version_ | 1797609316524490752 |
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| author | Hatim Alotaibi Chamil Abeykoon Constantinos Soutis Masoud Jabbari |
| author_facet | Hatim Alotaibi Chamil Abeykoon Constantinos Soutis Masoud Jabbari |
| author_sort | Hatim Alotaibi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper presents a numerical framework for modelling and simulating convection–diffusion–reaction flows in liquid composite moulding (LCM). The model is developed in ANSYS Fluent with customised user-defined-functions (UDFs), user-defined-scalar (UDS), and user-defined memory (UDM) codes to incorporate the cure kinetics and rheological characteristics of thermoset resin impregnation. The simulations were performed adopting volume-of-fluid (VOF)—a multiphase flow solution—based on finite volume method (FVM). The developed numerical approach solves Darcy’s law, heat transfer, and chemical reactions in LCM process simultaneously. Thereby, the solution scheme shows its ability to provide information on flow-front, viscosity development, degree of cure, and rate of reaction at once unlike existing literature that commonly focuses on impregnation stage and cure stage in isolation. Furthermore, it allows online monitoring, controlled boundary conditions, and injection techniques (for design of manufacturing) during the mould filling and curing stages. To examine the validity of the model, a comparative analysis was carried out for a simple geometry, in that the numerical results indicate good agreement—3.4% difference in the degree of cure compared with previous research findings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:59:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ff450ab2304a467b8eeb8a4e5782622d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4360 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:59:48Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polymers |
| spelling | doaj.art-ff450ab2304a467b8eeb8a4e5782622d2023-11-17T13:27:25ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602023-03-01156157210.3390/polym15061572A Numerical Thermo-Chemo-Flow Analysis of Thermoset Resin Impregnation in LCM ProcessesHatim Alotaibi0Chamil Abeykoon1Constantinos Soutis2Masoud Jabbari3Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UKNorthwest Composites Centre, Department of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UKNorthwest Composites Centre, Department of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UKSchool of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKThis paper presents a numerical framework for modelling and simulating convection–diffusion–reaction flows in liquid composite moulding (LCM). The model is developed in ANSYS Fluent with customised user-defined-functions (UDFs), user-defined-scalar (UDS), and user-defined memory (UDM) codes to incorporate the cure kinetics and rheological characteristics of thermoset resin impregnation. The simulations were performed adopting volume-of-fluid (VOF)—a multiphase flow solution—based on finite volume method (FVM). The developed numerical approach solves Darcy’s law, heat transfer, and chemical reactions in LCM process simultaneously. Thereby, the solution scheme shows its ability to provide information on flow-front, viscosity development, degree of cure, and rate of reaction at once unlike existing literature that commonly focuses on impregnation stage and cure stage in isolation. Furthermore, it allows online monitoring, controlled boundary conditions, and injection techniques (for design of manufacturing) during the mould filling and curing stages. To examine the validity of the model, a comparative analysis was carried out for a simple geometry, in that the numerical results indicate good agreement—3.4% difference in the degree of cure compared with previous research findings.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/6/1572liquid composite mouldingCFDfilling stagecuring stagecure kineticsrheology |
| spellingShingle | Hatim Alotaibi Chamil Abeykoon Constantinos Soutis Masoud Jabbari A Numerical Thermo-Chemo-Flow Analysis of Thermoset Resin Impregnation in LCM Processes Polymers liquid composite moulding CFD filling stage curing stage cure kinetics rheology |
| title | A Numerical Thermo-Chemo-Flow Analysis of Thermoset Resin Impregnation in LCM Processes |
| title_full | A Numerical Thermo-Chemo-Flow Analysis of Thermoset Resin Impregnation in LCM Processes |
| title_fullStr | A Numerical Thermo-Chemo-Flow Analysis of Thermoset Resin Impregnation in LCM Processes |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Numerical Thermo-Chemo-Flow Analysis of Thermoset Resin Impregnation in LCM Processes |
| title_short | A Numerical Thermo-Chemo-Flow Analysis of Thermoset Resin Impregnation in LCM Processes |
| title_sort | numerical thermo chemo flow analysis of thermoset resin impregnation in lcm processes |
| topic | liquid composite moulding CFD filling stage curing stage cure kinetics rheology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/6/1572 |
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