Analysis of dry-spot behavior in the pressure field of a liquid composite molding process

Abstract

Due to industrial automation of liquid composite molding processes and increasing geometrical complexity of composite components, dry-spots from flow front junctions have become increasingly difficult to avoid. The impact and behavior of voids (microscopic or small macroscopic gas entrapments) during preform impregnation is well known, but no attention is given to dry-spots (large macroscopic gas entrapments). Experiments show that formation of a dry-spot in an early stage of an injection process does not necessarily lead to scrap parts. Therefore, simulation-based predictions of dry-spots are no sufficient condition for identification of unsuitable injection strategies. In this paper, the resolution mechanisms of dry-spots under controlled process conditions are investigated and the resulting findings of fundamental formation- and dispersion-mechanisms are presented.