Modelling of the fluid-structure interaction in mould filling processes for an intrinsic manufacturing of fibre-reinforced composite sandwich components (FSI-Sandwich)

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Frank Henning; Professorin Dr.-Ing. Luise Kärger
• Subject Area: Plastics Engineering ; Lightweight Construction, Textile Technology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 449100283

Sandwich parts with fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) face sheets and a lightweight core material have a very high specific bending stiffness and are therefore perfectly suited for lightweight constructions, e.g. in the aerospace or automotive industry. To achieve a very short processing time with only few process steps, the intrinsic manufacturing of a sandwich using resin transfer moulding (RTM) is one possible option. In this manufacturing route, the foam core material is embedded between the dry fibrous preforms and subsequently put into a heated mould, where a liquid polymer resin is injected into the surface layers. During this step, the pressure inside the mould has to be adjusted based on the mechanical behaviour of the core material to ensure that no plastic deformation occurs. The objective of this project proposal is the development and validation of simulation methods to predict the process behaviour. The method is based on a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) of the mould filling of the resin with the deforming core material and the deforming fibrous preform that interact strongly. Method development and validation is carried out in two stages. First, a rigid core is considered, which is displaced but not deformed as a result of fluid flow. In the second development stage, the hyperviscoelastic-plastic deformation behaviour of the foam core is also modelled and the FSI interface is extended accordingly. Eventually, parametric studies shall be conducted with the developed method to investigate the influence of process parameters such as resin mass flow, mould temperature, foam core density, fibre volume fraction etc. With the proposed approach we aim at determining suitable process windows for intrinsic manufacturing of composite sandwich parts in a virtual and efficient way.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants