Modeling of a thermoplastic pultrusion process

Journal Article · Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · SAMPE Quarterly (Society of Aerospace Material and Process Engineers); (United States)

OSTI ID:6072389

Astroem, B T ^[1]; Pipes, R B ^[2]

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1. Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden)
2. Univ. of Delaware, Newark (United States)

To obtain a fundamental understanding of the effects of processing parameters and die geometry in a pultrusion process, a mathematical model is essential in order to minimize the number of trial-and-error experiments. Previous investigators have suggested a variety of more or less complete models for thermoset pultrusion, while little effort seems to have been spent modeling its less well-understood thermoplastic equivalent. Hence, a set of intricately related models to describe the temperature and pressure distributions, as well as the matrix flow, in a thermoplastic composite as it travels through the pultrusion die is presented. An approach to calculate the accumulated pulling force is also explored, and the individual mechanisms contributing to the pulling force are discussed. The pressure model incorporates a matrix viscosity that varies with shear rate, temperature, and pressure. Comparisons are made between shear-rate-dependent and Newtonian viscosity representations, indicating the necessity of including non-Newtonian fluid behavior when modeling thermoplastic pultrusion. The governing equations of the models are stated in general terms, and simplifications are implemented in order to obtain solutions without extensive numerical efforts. Pressure, temperature, cooling rate, and pulling force distributions are presented for carbon-fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone. Pulling force predictions are compared to data obtained from preliminary experiments conducted with a model pultrusion line that was built solely for the pultrusion of thermoplastic matrix composites, and the correlation is found to be qualitatively satisfactory.

• OSTI ID: 6072389
• Journal Information: SAMPE Quarterly (Society of Aerospace Material and Process Engineers); (United States), Journal Name: SAMPE Quarterly (Society of Aerospace Material and Process Engineers); (United States) Vol. 22:4; ISSN 0036-0821; ISSN SAMQA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360601* -- Other Materials-- Preparation & Manufacture
CARBON FIBERS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
DEFORMATION
DIES
ENERGY TRANSFER
EQUATIONS
EVALUATION
EXPANSION
EXTRUSION
FABRICATION
FIBERS
FLOW MODELS
FORCING FUNCTIONS
HEAT TRANSFER
KETONES
MATERIALS
MATERIALS WORKING
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATRIX MATERIALS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLASTICS
POLYMERS
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
REINFORCED MATERIALS
RHEOLOGY
SHEAR PROPERTIES
SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
THERMAL EXPANSION
THERMOPLASTICS
VISCOSITY