Numerical investigation of vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM) within deformable fibre fabrics

The VARTM procedure is a manufacturing step in the production line when building parts made of fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP), such as glass- or carbon fibre-reinforced plastics acronymed GFRP or CFRP, respectively. In the VARTM process, an initially dry (gas-saturated) fibre-fabric is gradually impregnated by resin, where the flow process is, besides the driving injection pressure, governed by the mutual interactions between the fabric, the resin and the ambient air. To predict the mechanical properties of the manufactured structure, simulations are vital.

Within the present contribution, the simulation model proceeds from the macroscopic Theory of Porous Media (TPM), which intrinsically accounts for the interplay between the individual components, in particular, the fibre-network, the ambient air and the resin, where the latter two simultaneously percolate through inter-fibrous pore space. The underlying holistic modelling approach allows, on the one hand, for a continuous transition from the fully gas-saturated towards the fully resin-saturated state and, on the other hand, the consideration of the so-called spring-back effect. The presented simulation example investigates the model behaviour within a practically relevant application scenario. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)