This paper deals with the modelling and simulation of resin flow, heat transfer and the curing of multilayer thermoset composite laminates during processing in an autoclave. Darcy's Law and Stokes' slow-flow equations are used for the flow model and, for approximately isothermal flows, a similarity solution is developed. This permits the decoupling of the velocity and thermal fields. A two-dimensional convection-diffusion heat equation with an internal heat generation term is then solved numerically, together with the equation for the rate of cure, using a finite difference scheme on a moving grid. The simulations are performed with varying composite thicknesses, and a comparison of numerical results with known experimental data confirms the approximate validity of the model. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Mathematical Sciences
Research Group:	Statistics
Research Field:	Statistical theory
Objective Division:	Information and Communication Services
Objective Group:	Information systems, technologies and services
Objective Field:	Information systems, technologies and services not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Blest, DC (Associate Professor David Blest)
ID Code:	16114
Year Published:	1999
Web of Science® Times Cited:	63
Deposited By:	Mathematics
Deposited On:	1999-08-01
Last Modified:	2011-08-04
Downloads:	0