Holistic modeling of composites manufacturing using poromechanics

In the present paper we present a novel finite element method capable of handling most of thephysics arising in the resin wet-out step for any composite system and processing case. The methodis based on a compressible two-phase continuum formulation where a key feature is to model theinvolved physics via innovative use of the compressibility of the phases. On the one hand, thefluid phase compressibility is used to capture the physics of the advancing resin front as well asthe physics behind the flow front. On the other hand, solid phase compressibility is used to modelmicro infiltration of the resin and the corresponding preform compaction, essentially consideredas a fluid sink problem. Finally, the generic porous media model is formulated in the finite strainregime. The model has been implemented and demonstrated for different manufacturing methodsand the results with respect to each example is presented. The degree of saturation, pressuredistribution, preform deformation and reaction forces are some of the post-processed results fordifferent manufacturing methods. The ultimate goal of this contribution is to establish an unifiedgeneric and general simulation tool for structural (long fiber) composite processing where, to thisdate, there is no single FE based tool available commercially for this purpose