COMPANY CATEGORY
SPECIAL PRIZE WINNER
Project Name: Compression Molding of Sheet CFRP Materials
Company: Toyota Research Institute of North America
By Yuyang Song
Summary
Since there’s no practical commercial software available to handle the compression molding of the sheet materials, Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA) team aimed to develop a design method for mold filling analysis and warpage analysis of the CFRP composite made from discontinuous long fibers in sheet format. In this project, a novel, two-step CAE method was developed to simulate the compression molding of sheet materials. The two-step method combined the use of LS-DYNA and Moldex3D to satisfy the need to capture the elastic–plastic structural behavior during draping and the flow behavior of resin melts during compression, enabling TRINA to better predict fiber orientation and warpage.
Challenges
- There was no practical commercial software can handle the compression molding of the sheet materials made from non-woven fibers
- None of the standard structural mechanical or compression molding software can handle the draping of the sheet
Solutions
The compression molding simulation was carried out using the proposed two-step approach. First, the sheet materials were simulated as a draping process using LS-DYNA. Next, the draped shape was used in Moldex3D compression molding simulation. TRINA engineers were able to obtain more accurate prediction of fiber orientation and warpage of the compression molding of sheet materials using the two-step CAE method, reducing the time and cost of developing CFRP parts.
Benefits
- Allowed manufacturers to simulate draping and compression molding of sheet materials with a two-step CAE method, which is previously unavailable
- Obtained accurate fiber orientation prediction of CFRP parts
- Accelerated product development and reduce costs
Products Used
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