COMPARISON OF MEASUREMENTS AND MODELING FOR PULTRUSION OF A FIBERGLASS EPOXY I-BEAM/

This research presents the experimental characterization and modeling of three-dimensional unsteady-state temperature and degree of cure dis tributions for the pultrusion manufacturing of fiberglass-epoxy I-beam composites. The model is capable of predicting temperature and degree of cure distributions for composites with Cartesian shapes in three d imensions and temperature profiles in pultrusion dies without the aid of predetermined temperature values used as die wall boundary conditio ns. The numerical model is compared with experimentally measured tempe ratures and degrees of cure recorded during the actual pultrusion manu facturing of the fiberglass-epoxy I-beams. Using a differential scanni ng calorimeter (DSC), the die composite exit degree of cure was also o btained. The finite volume method was utilized in the development of t he numerical model for solving the governing energy and species equati ons used in modeling the entire heating section of the pultruder. The combinations of pull speed, fiber volume, and die temperature profiles can be modeled very economically to simulate pultrusion manufacturing of composites. Since this research is not limited in terms of predete rmined temperature values, it can be tailored easily to predict a mult itude of temperature profiles suited for st pultrusion process. This r esearch is also important because it provides realistic modeling of ir regular cross-sectional geometries.