NUMERICAL STUDY OF LIQUID COMPOSITE MOLDING USING A SMOOTHED PARTICLE HYDRODYNAMICS METHOD

Liquid composite molding is an important manufacturing process for a variety of composite components. The motion of fluid in a porous preform during a mold-filling process plays an important role in determining the quality of the composite part. In this study, a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) model is developed based on the Brinkman-Forchheimer-Darcy equation to study the mold-filling process with a special emphasis on the effects of operational conditions on the distributions of the fluid in the preform. The capillary pressure, which is important for a metal-based composite, is included in the model using the continuum surface force method. Two-dimensional simulations were performed to examine the effects of infusion rate, multiple infusion gates, and capillary pressure on the filling process. The results suggest that the SPH model provides an effective tool with sufficient accuracy for simulation, design, and optimization of mold filling for complex components.