Simulation of Resin Transfer Molding and Vacuum Infusion RTM-Worx Simulation of Resin Transfer Molding and Vacuum Infusion

Introduction to RTM-Worx RTM Simulation technology has become more accessible than ever! We will give you an impression of the extensive capabilities of our simulation code: RTM-Worx. This presentation will take 5 minutes Use the mouse or cursor keys to navigate through the slides or speed up the presentation.

Flow Simulation with RTM-Worx RTM-Worx simulates flow of the resin during filling. It calculates injection time, location of venting ports, shows air entrapments, race effects etc. The simulation allows you to do a lot of trial injections in short time. You need some information to do a simulation: Geometry of the product and fabric lay-up Viscosity of the resin (at injection temperature) Fiber/volume fraction and permeability Permeability can be measured by edge injection of a strip that has the same lay-up as the product.

Overview of RTM-Worx Advanced FEM Simulation Integrated pre- and post processing Hierarchical archiving system Runs on PC, Windows 95/98/NT4 CPU time one minute (Pentium II 233 MHz) Learning time less than one day Unmatched performance / cost ratio

Building the Model Integrated geometry modeller Imports DXF, STL and FEM meshes Add properties to: keypoints to define injection and venting ports curves to define runner channels and easy flow paths (empty or UD strands) surfaces to define thickness and reinforcement Point-and-click interface Variable units, automatic conversion

Geometry Editor Define corners and gates using keypoints Connect keypoints with curves Create surfaces by loops of curves

Reinforcement Properties Peripheral injection channel (no reinforcement) Selected surface Properties

Injection and Venting Ports Injection ports Venting port Injection pressure Flowrate Open/close

Control Panel Tools for various tasks Dynamic rotation/zoom/pan Defaults allow you to safely explore all possibilities Tooltips provide help, valid ranges and error indication Built-in calculator Full keyboard support

Mesh Generation Each entity is automatically meshed Graded mesh adapts triangle and edge size to the level of detail in the geometry Element size can be controlled explicitly View element quality to decide whether mesh is acceptable or needs (local) refinement Generates over 2000 triangles/second

Mesh Generation Configurable bounds on mesh size Buttons provide common settings

Filling Simulation Accurate flow front tracking based on mass conservative FEM/CV method Fast CG iterative solver with SGS preconditioning guarantees reliable results Restart option continues calculation at any point, optionally with changed parameters Use coarse meshes for quick results, fine meshes for accurate predictions

Progress of simulation Calculation Resin viscosity Progress of simulation

Smart Postprocessing Save lots of results using less disk space Walk through the filling sequence (animation) Shaded and line contour plots Vector plots of velocity and 2D permeability Entirely integrated: all display options always available change model/properties and recalculate without need to switch between applications

Vectors (velocity, permeability) View Results Walk through filling sequence Label geometry or mesh Shaded contours Line contours Vectors (velocity, permeability)

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Filling animation

Applications Optimize part injection: location of injection and venting ports, filling time and pressure Eliminate sensitivity to easy flow paths and variations in properties of fabric and resin Quickly assess implications of design or material changes for existing products Establish specifications for fabric, resin and preforming needed to ensure part quality

Plotting Capabilities Combine shaded, line contour and vector plots to interpret results Plot any combination of properties and simulation results

Example: Complex Part Exploded view can be made with connector elements Thickness multiplied by factor 3 to show differences more clearly Use RTM-Worx to optimise location of injection and venting ports

Easy Flow Paths Easy flow paths can strongly influence the filling pattern Closed contours represent air traps: potential dry spots

System Requirements Minimum configuration: Recommended configuration: Pentium II 450 PC, Windows™ NT 4.0 (SP4) 64 Mb RAM, 70 Mb free on disk 800x600 resolution, 16-bit color, 15” monitor Recommended configuration: Pentium III 1GHz PC, Windows™ 2000 / XP 256 Mb RAM, 100 Mb space on disk 1024x768 resolution, 24-bit color, 3D OpenGL acceleration in hardware, 19” monitor 16-bit sound card and speakers

Support and Services RTM-Worx helpdesk (phone, fax or E-Mail) Modeling assistance, conversion of CAD/FEM files (E-Mail required) Material data: From our database (literature, projects) Permeability measurements Consultancy, RTM simulations Development of extensions to RTM-Worx

Available Now! RTM-Worx 2.2 Contact POLYWORX: CD-ROM with documentation, several examples, on-line context-sensitive help system, user manual etc. Includes one-year service contract and course. Non-isothermal reactive module optional. Interface with MSC Patran/Laminate modeller optional. Contact POLYWORX: Arjen Koorevaar (arjen@polyworx.com) Lekdijk 52, NL-2865 LD Ammerstol, The Netherlands Phone: +31 182 357042, Fax: +31 182 357043 Website: http://www.polyworx.com E-mail: info@polyworx.com