Resin transfer molding(RTM) as a composite manufacturing process is currently of great interest in the aerospace industry requiring high performance composite parts. In this study, an analysis of mold filling in the RTM process was carried out by numerical simulation using finite elememt/control volume technique. Experimental work for the visualization of resin flow through fibrous preform was also conducted in order to quantitatively measure the permeabilities of the fiber mats and to evaluate the validity of the developed numerical code. The different types of fiber mats and silicon oils were selected as reinforcements and resin materials, respectively. The effects of fibrous preform structure, mold geometry, and preplaced insert on the flow front patterns during mold filling were examined by integrating the model predictions and experimental results. The flow fronts predicted by numerical simulation were in good agreement with those observed experimentally. However, according to the regions of the mold, some deviations between predicted and observed flow fronts could be found because of non-uniform fiber volume fraction. Weldline locations for the resin flow through round insert preplaced in the mold could be qualitatively deduced based on predicted flow fronts.

Resin transfer molding(RTM) as a composite manufacturing process is currently of great interest in the aerospace industry requiring high performance composite parts. In this study, an analysis of mold filling in the RTM process was carried out by numerical simulation using finite elememt/control volume technique. Experimental work for the visualization of resin flow through fibrous preform was also conducted in order to quantitatively measure the permeabilities of the fiber mats and to evaluate the validity of the developed numerical code. The different types of fiber mats and silicon oils were selected as reinforcements and resin materials, respectively. The effects of fibrous preform structure, mold geometry, and preplaced insert on the flow front patterns during mold filling were examined by integrating the model predictions and experimental results. The flow fronts predicted by numerical simulation were in good agreement with those observed experimentally. However, according to the regions of the mold, some deviations between predicted and observed flow fronts could be found because of non-uniform fiber volume fraction. Weldline locations for the resin flow through round insert preplaced in the mold could be qualitatively deduced based on predicted flow fronts.