Abstract:

Advanced composite materials are now used in a wide range of industries, including aerospace, marine, construction, transport and recreational sport. The ever-increasing pressure on producing quality parts effectively and efficiently has led to many innovations over the years in manufacturing technologies and associated computational modelling and simulation of these processes.  This talk discusses some recent research carried out at the Centre for Advanced Composite Materials (CACM) in Auckland on the manufacture of such materials. This includes the development of macro-scale and meso-scale material models for the simulation of textile and fabric compaction, and methods for determining textile permeability.  A complete simulation process chain has been developed, incorporating image analysis and mechanics modelling, for the prediction of material permeability, as used for process prediction. Also discussed are methods for the detection of preform defects before final manufacture, as a means of aiding automated mass production. This involves non-destructive injectability measurements and a discussion of the associated flow mechanics.