Non Isothermal Reactive Flow Modelling in Pultrusion Process Looking Towards Voids Prediction

The present work presents a procedure aiming at void prediction, based on the coupling between an impregnation model, a thermo-chemical model and a stress/strain model, in a conventional pultrusion process. The impregnation model describes the resin flow and pressure distribution in the initial portion of the die, typically characterized by a convergent cross section. The model is based on the solution of a non-homogeneous non-isothermal/reactive multiphase model, using a finite volume scheme. The thermochemical model describes the heat transfer and degree of cure evolution of the processing resin in the die, as well as in the post die region. Finally, the stress/strain model computes the part distortion and in process stresses due to thermal, chemical, mechanical strains. An applicative case study is presented, simulating the impregnation step of the pultrusion process of a fiberglass epoxy resin composite rod.