A simulation of the non-isothermal resin transfer molding process

A simulation of the non-isothermal resin transfer molding manufacturing pro cess accounting for both the filling and the consolidation stage has been d eveloped. The flow of an exothermally reactive resin through a porous mediu m has been analyzed with reference to the Darcy law, allowing for the chemo rheological properties of the reacting resin. Thermal profile calculations have been extended to a three phase domain, namely the mold, the dry prefor m and the filled preform. The mold has been included in order to evaluate t he thermal inertial effects. The energy balance equation includes the react ion term together with the conductive and convective terms, and particular attention has been devoted to setting the thermal boundary condition at the now front surface. The moving boundary condition has been derived by a jum p equation. The simulation performance has been tested by comparing the pre dicted temperature profiles with experimental data from literature. Further numerical analysis assessed the relevance of using the jump equation at th e flow front position for both filling time and thermal profile determinati on.