Numerical determination of the permeability of fibre reinforcement for the RTM process

Abstract

The fibre reinforcement permeability is an important parameter for mould filling in the Resin Transfer Moulding process. It can be experimentally obtained, but the interest of a numerical determination is to test the influence of the fibre arrangement. We build a tool based on the local flow kinematics resolution in an elementary cell containing a representative amount of fibres. A multidomain approach is used. The fibres and fluid domains are described by characteristic functions, and the computation is carried out on the whole domain. This gives a great flexibility for addressing complex reinforcement without meshing difficulty. Examples of results are given for a woven fabric, a mat, and more complex situations, showing the anisotropy induced by the fibres.