A numerical approach to the modeling of polymer curing in fibre-reinforcedcomposites

This paper presents a procedure for using a general-purpose finite-element (FE) package for cure modeling. The package is used to carry out transient heat-transfer analysis and two user programs are developed to simulate resi n-cure kinetics by using nodal control volumes based on the FE mesh. The th eoretical background and numerical implementation of the procedure are desc ribed, and stability with respect to the FE mesh density and the length of the time step employed is investigated. Application of the procedure is dem onstrated by modeling the cure of a thick prepreg laminate, a honeycomb san dwich panel and an I-beam. Predicted temperature profiles in the thick lami nate are in excellent agreement with available experimental data. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ail rights reserved.