FREE BOUNDARY VISCOUS FLOWS AT MICRO ANDMESOLEVEL DURING LIQUID COMPOSITES MOLDINGPROCESS

摘要

Numerical simulation aspects related to low Reynolds number free boundary viscousflows at micro and mesolevel during the resin impregnation stage of the Liquid Composite Molding(LCM) Process are presented in this article. Free boundary program (FBP), developed by the authorsis used to track the movement of the resin front accurately by accounting for the surface tensioneffects at the boundary. Issues related to the global and local mass conservation (GMC and LMC) areidentified and discussed. Unsuitable conditions for LMC and consequently GMC are uncovered inmesolevel filling at low capillary number, and hence a strategy for the numerical simulation of suchflows is suggested.FBP encompasses a set of subroutines that are linked to modules in ANSYS. FBP can also capture thevoid formation dynamics based on the analysis developed. We present resin impregnation dynamicsin two dimensions. Extension to three dimensions is a subject for further research. Several examplesof stabilization validation techniques are compared.