Simulation of Pultrusion Manufacturing Process of Glass/Polyester Composites

Present research involves the complete simulation of pultrusion manufacturingprocess of glass/polyester composites. For that purpose, the curingprocess is divided to two liquid and gel-solid phases. The physical characteristicsof the resin consist of specific heat, viscosity and coefficient of heat transferchanges with variations of temperature and increasing the degree of curing process(α). In each of the two liquid and gel-solid phases, some of these parameters play animportant role in the heat transfer and consequently in the simulation results. Thereleased heat during the resin curing process is another important parameter. Thisparameter depends on the absolute temperature of the resin and accelerates the resincuring process. The most important parameter in simulation of the resin curingprocess is the degree of cure of the resin, which is used in calculation of the viscosityof the resin in this process and also helps in indicating the end of the curingprocess. The physical properties of fibers do not change during the curing process,while they affect the heat transfer of the resin and duration of the curing process.Therefore, instead of modeling the fibers and the resin, an equivalent material isintroduced which demonstrates the behavior of fibers and the resin during the curingprocess.