A Three-Dimensional Model of the Resin Film Infusion Process

A finite element code, in modular form, has been developed to model the complete three-dimensional resin film infusion (RFI) process. The problem formulation and its analysis incorporate compaction of the anisotropic elastic porous preform, elastic deformations of the tooling components, heat transfer in the resin, flow of resin through the preform, cure kinetics of the resin, and the heat transfer between the tools and the surrounding environment in the autoclave. The inertia effects and the transfer of heat by convection have been neglected. Two techniques, namely the slideline algorithm and a compliant layer interface, are used to model the possible sliding of the tool over the preform at their common interfaces. Weak forms are derived for (a) the initial-boundary-value problem corresponding to the transient thermal problem, (b) the boundary-value problem for the fluid through an elastic porous medium, and (c) the boundary-value problems for the quasistatic deformations of the tooling components and for a partially or fully saturated porous elastic preform. The finite element method is used to solve these equations, and the flow front is located by using a control volume technique. Computed results are presented for a stiffened T-panel and a two-stiffener panel.