Applying Resin Radial Injection for Manufacturing Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite: Advanced Mathematical Modeling and Simulation

Recently, the liquid composite molding technique (LCM) has been used for producing fiber-reinforced polymer composites, since it allows the molding of complex parts, presenting good surface finishing and control of the mechanical properties of the product at the end of the process. Studies in this area have been focused on resin transfer molding (RTM), specifically on the resin rectilinear infiltration through the porous preform inserted in the closed cavity neglecting the sorption effect of the polymeric fluid by the reinforcement. Thus, the objective of this work is to predict resin radial flow in porous media (fibrous preform), including the effect of resin sorption by fibers considering a one-dimensional approach. For correct prediction of the flow behavior inside the porous media, an advanced modeling approach composed of the mass conservation equation and Darcy's law is used, and the solution of the coupled equation is obtained. Transient results of the flow front location, velocity and pressure within the mold during the resin infiltration are shown, the effects of different parameters for resin (viscosity), reinforcement (sorption term, permeability and porosity) and process (injection pressure and injection radius) are analyzed, and an in-depth discussion is performed.