Simulation of compression resin transfer molding to manufacture thin composite shells

The resin flow through fiber reinforcements in Compression Resin Transfer M olding (CRTM) has been modeled by Pham et at (1). First the preform is part ially filled by resin during the injection phase. Then it is compressed by the mobile part of the mold. The resin now in the fiber bed is governed by Darcy's law. The consolidation of the saturated preform is described by the total mass conservation. A mathematical model is developed for thin curved composite parts. A filling algorithm based on resin conservation on a defo rmable grid is used to advance the flow front at each time step. Resin pres sure and velocity are calculated by the finite element method. Several cont rol parameters of the CRTM process are investigated in this study, such as the compaction speed of the mold upper wall, the injection pressure and the closing/opening of the injection gate. The numerical model allows the calc ulation of pressure distribution in the mold, which is compared with analyt ical solutions and experimental results.