Modeling the resin flow and numerical simulation of the filling stage for vacuum-assisted resin infusion process

The preform is covered by a flexible vacuum bag in vacuum-assisted resin infusion process, and the preform compaction state is time and space dependent during the mould-filling stage, there is no practical tool for the filling simulation. In this paper, the resin flow governing equations for vacuum-assisted resin infusion are built based on the analysis of the preform compaction behaviour and the fibre tow impregnation. For obtaining the numerical solution conveniently and accurately, an alternative approach is proposed in which the primary flow is computed from the normal Darcy's law, two-slave elements are added to each master element, named sink slave element and deformation slave element, to calculate the resin mass variation caused by fibre tow infiltration and preform deformation. Three examples are conducted to verify the precision and broad applicability of the approach. The influence of the preform deformation and the unsaturated effect on the mould filling is analysed.