Liquid Composite Molding (LCM) are processes in which a fiber preform is placed in a mold and a thermoset resin is injected into the mold cavity to form a fiber reinforced composite part. For complicated mold shapes, the engineer has to make decisions about the resin injection pressure, flow rate, location of gates and vents to achieve a high quality part without any dry spots. Over the last ten years, we have developed a virtual manufacturing simulation, LIMS (Liquid Injection Molding Simulation) of the infiltration of the resin into the fiber preform that can aid the engineer in arriving at such decisions. Although this has helped in reduction of time and cost in prototype development, inherent variabilities in material and process parameters continue to challenge the engineer in reducing the unacceptable parts. An on-line strategic controller with in-situ sensor data can influence the resin flow pattern during mold filling and drive the process towards successful completion. LIMS usefulness in development of such controllers, to take corrective actions when a disturbance such as change in fiber volume fraction or unplanned racetracking is detected by the sensors, will be demonstrated with a case study.
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