Jc. Gelin et al., MANUFACTURE OF THIN COMPOSITE STRUCTURES BY THE RTM PROCESS - NUMERICAL-SIMULATION OF THE SHAPING OPERATION, Composites science and technology, 56(7), 1996, pp. 711-718
The glass-fibre preform shaping process is the first stage of the RTM
manufacturing process for the production of thin fabric-reinforced com
posite structures. A numerical tool for the simulation of this shaping
process is proposed. The aim of the software developed is to be able
to determine if a drawing operation is possible before the manufacturi
ng of expensive tools. The approach used is a mechanical one. The beha
viour of the flat fabrics used in the shaping process is obtained from
the tensile curve of a single yarn and the current position of yarns
during the shaping operation. Discrete finite elements made of yarns a
re used, which lead to a good numerical efficiency, especially in the
case of elements directed by the yarns. A set of comparisons between s
haping simulations and experimental results proves the validity of the
proposed formulation. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Limited