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Environmental concern has encouraged development related to polluted water treatment. Produced water originated from oil exploration has been submitted to different separation processes such as settling tanks, floaters, two-phase and three-phase separators, hydrocyclones, and membranes. On the use of membranes, the goal is to separate soluble components from solutions based on the size, charge, shape, and molecular interactions between the solute and membrane surface. In the present work, a numerical study was developed on the oil-water mixture separation process using a porous ceramic membrane module. The mathematical model used in this research is composed of mass and momentum conservation equations coupled to Darcy ́s law and SST k-ω turbulence model. Simulations were carried out employing the Ansys CFX commercial software. Results of the pressure, velocity, oil concentration distribution inside the device and membrane are presented and discussed. The results showed that the geometric aspects of the proposed microfiltration module and the membrane distribution within the separation module had a significant influence on the hydrodynamic flow leading to polarized layer dispersion.

This work aims to numerically simulating the resin injection manufacturing process of a polymer composite,reinforced with ribbons of NiTishape memory alloy, using the software Ansys CFX®. The multiphase flow mathematical modeling was used to describe the transient and isothermal resin-air flow during the process. Results of the pressure fields, velocity andvolume fractionsof the involved phases are presented. The fluid flow inside the mold was compared withthe flow between parallel flat plates and showed to be consistent. Process parameters, such as resin volumetric flow rate, resin inlet and air outlet positions have a large influence in the mold filling time, volume and position of voids fractions inside de mold and final product quality.

The objective of this work is to describe the fluid flow in porous media including the sorption term of the fluid by the fibers. The study has been applied to the manufacture of fiber-reinforced polymer composites by resin transfer molding, giving emphasis to radial resin infiltration in a one-dimensional approach. The mass conservation equation and Darcy’s law are presented and the solution of the governing equation is obtained. The advanced mathematical modeling includes the effect of fluid sorption by the porous media. Predicted flow front results and resin pressure fields within the mold during the injection process are presented, and the effects of the sorption term, injection pressure and fibrous medium permeability analyzed.

This work presents a theoretical drying study of sisal fiber. Fibers with moisture content of around 11.2% were dried in an oven in the temperature 90°C. A transient and three-dimensional mathematical modeling to predict heat and mass transfer in a bed of fiber was proposed and numerically solved by using the finite-volume method. Results of the average moisture content and surface temperature were compared with experimental data to verify the consistence of the proposed model, and good agreement was verified.

This work presents a non-steady state and three-dimensional mathematical modeling to predict moisture transport (based on the Langmuir-Type Model) inside the vegetable fiber-reinforced composite materials. The numerical solutions of the governing equations have been obtain using the finite-volume method. The model was apply for vegetable fiber-reinforced polymer composites. Emphasis to the geometrical dimension effect of the composite in the water absorption process was given. Results of the average moisture content, free and entrapped water molecules concentration kinetics and free and entrapped water molecules concentration distributions inside the material along the process are shown and analyzed. In the distributions of the analyzed properties, it was observed that the geometric dimensions of the composite has influence in the water absorption process.

The mechanical loading frequency affects the functional properties of shape memory alloys (SMA). Thus, it is crucial to study its effect for the successful use of these materials in dynamic applications. Based on the superelastic cyclic behavior, this work presents an experimental methodology for the determination of the critical frequency of the self-heating of a NiTi Belleville conical spring. For this, cyclic compressive tests were carried out using a universal testing machine with loading frequencies ranging from 0.5 Hz to 10 Hz. The temperature variation during the cyclic tests was monitored using a micro thermocouple glued to the NiTi Belleville spring. Numerical simulations of the spring under quasi-static loadings were performed to assist the analysis. From the experimental methodology applied to the Belleville spring, a self-heating frequency of 1.7 Hz was identified. The self-heating is caused by the latent heat accumulation generated by successive cycles of stress-induced phase transformation in the material. At 2.0 Hz, an increase of 1.2 °C in the average temperature of the SMA device was verified between 1st and 128th superelastic cycles. At 10 Hz, the average temperature increase reached 7.9 °C and caused a 10% increase in the stiffness and 25% decrease in the viscous damping factor. Finally, predicted results of the force as a function of the loading frequency were obtained.

This work aims to study the influence of using construction and demolition waste in the replacement of coarse and fine aggregate to produce recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). A moderate compressive strength concrete made with usual fine and coarse aggregate was used as a benchmark material. Compressive and split tensile tests were performed using 120 cylindrical concrete specimens with 150 mm diameter and 300 mm length. Four-point flexural tests in reinforced beams made with conventional concrete and RAC were performed. The results obtained showed that the use of recycled fine aggregates, in both percentages of substitution investigated—50% and 100%—did not generate any deleterious influence on the values of compressive strength and split tensile strength of the RACs produced. Tin fact, the mechanical strengths of RACs produced with recycled fine aggregate were equal or higher than those from the reference concrete. The same behavior was not observed, however, when the recycled coarse aggregate was used. For this case, decreases in concrete mechanical strengths were observed, especially in compressive strength, with values around 35% lower when compared to the reference concrete. Tensile mechanical tests results confirmed the excellent behavior of all RACs made with replacement of usual fine aggregates by recycled. Bending tests performed in reinforced RAC beams had as objective to evaluate the deformation profile of the beams. The obtained results showed that RAC beams with full replacement of usual fine aggregate by the recycled aggregates have presented little changes in the global behavior, an aspect that encourages its use.

The development of thermal energy storage systems is a possible solution in the search for reductions in the difference between the global energy supply and demand. In this context, the ability of some materials, the so-called phase change materials (PCMs), to absorb and release large amounts of energy under specific periods and operating conditions has been verified. The applications of these materials are limited due to their low thermal conductivity, and thus, it is necessary to associate them with high-conductivity materials, such as metals, to make the control of energy absorption and release times possible. Bearing this in mind, this paper presents a numerical analysis of the melting process of a PCM into a triplex tube heat exchanger (TTHX) with finned copper tubes, which allowed for the heat transfer between a heating fluid (water) and the phase change material to power a liquid-desiccant air conditioning system. Through the analysis of the temperature fields, liquid fractions, and velocities, as well as the phase transition, it was possible to describe the material charging process; then, the results were compared with experimental data, which are available in the specialized literature, and presented mean errors of less than 10%. The total required time to completely melt the PCM was about 105.5 min with the water being injected into the TTHX at a flow rate of 8.3 L/min and a temperature of 90 °C. It was observed that the latent energy that accumulated during the melting process was 1330 kJ, while the accumulated sensitive energy was 835 kJ. The average heat flux at the internal surface of the inner tube was about 3 times higher than the average heat flux at the outer surface of the TTHX intermediate tube due to the velocity gradients that developed in the internal part of the heat exchanger, and was about 10 times more intense than those observed in the external region of the equipment.

In the present work, it was developed a numerical study on separation processes using ceramic membranes. The study apparatus consisted of a separation module formed by four concentric tubes, where the most inner one corresponds to the ceramic membrane. The system was applied to the treatment of oil and water mixtures. The separation module had a tangential effluent input and a tangential concentrate output. The filtered fluid was collected inside the membrane after filtration. The numerical study used a 3-D computational domain, and it was executed by means of the commercial software ANSYS CFX 12. In the numerical test, the porosity of the membrane was considered as a constant and the permeability as a function of the resistance of the porous media to the flow. At last, it were presented and analyzed the results for pressure, velocity, oil concentration distribution inside the device, permeation velocity, and pressure profiles at the surface of the membrane. The numerical results obtained indicate that the mathematical model used was capable of predicting the deposition of the oil at the surface of the tubular membrane. A geometric analysis of the separation module, supported by the system operation conditions, showed an important influence of this parameter on the dispersion of the concentration polarization at the surface of the equipment. The results showed that the geometric aspects of the proposed microfiltration module and the membrane distribution within the separation module had a significant influence on the hydrodynamic flow leading to polarized layer dispersion.

This work aims to numerically study the moisture absorption in polymer composites reinforced with vegetal fiber, using the diffusive model of Langmuir, which considers the existence of water molecules inside the material free to diffuse and adsorb at the capillaries walls, in the solid. A three-dimensional and transient mathematical modelling to describe the water absorption process by the composite and its numerical solution via finite volume method are presented and discussed. Results of the free solute concentration, entrapped solute concentration, local moisture content and average moisture content obtained at different instants of the process are presented and analyzed. It was verified that the concentration gradients of the molecules (free and entrapped) are higher at the material surface. In addition, as the concentration of free water increases, there is also an increase in entrapped water concentration within the material at any time of the process.

This work aims to study numerically the moisture absorption in polymer composite reinforced with vegetable fibers using the Langmuir model which considers the existence of free and entrapped water molecules inside the material. A three-dimensional and transient modeling for describing the water absorption process inside the composite and its numerical solution via finite volume method were presented and discussed. Application has been made for polymer composites reinforced with sisal fiber. Emphasis was given to the effect of the layer thickness of fluid close to the wall of the composite in the progress of water migration. Results of the free and entrapped solute (water) concentration, local moisture content and average moisture content, at different times of process, and inside the composite were presented and analyzed. It was verified that concentration gradients of the molecules (free and entrapped) are higher in the material surface, at any time of the process, and concentration of free solute is greater than the concentration of entrapped solute. It was verified that the water layer thickness surrounding the composite strongly affects the moisture absorption rate.

This chapter, based on the rigorous theory of fluid flow through porous media (continuum theory), different approaches (analytical) for description of air and resin flow in fibrous media will be presented. In the macroscopic mathematical modeling, both fibrous media and fluids (resin and air) are considered to be incompressible and the effect of resin sorption by fibers has been considered. Herein, by using a relevant and advanced mathematical treatment, different effects of the process parameters (injection pressure, fluid viscosity, porous media permeability, and porosity) and mold geometry in the fluid infiltration process has been analyzed.

This chapter focuses on the liquid composite molding technique with special attention to resin transfer molding process (RTM). Herein, the main issues related to this manufacturing technique such as foundations, processing stages, main control variables, problems and advantages associated with the use of the RTM technique, and finally applications of fiber-reinforced polymer composite at different areas are presented and discussed.

This article aims to study the non-Fickian water absorption process in vegetable fiber-reinforced polymer composite using the Langmuir-type model, evaluating the influence of mass diffusivity on the process. The numerical solutions of the governing equations were obtained using the finite-volume method. Transient results of the local and average moisture content, free and entrapped water molecules concentration considering the constant diffusivity and as a function of the average and local moisture content were presented and analyzed. It was observed that the mass diffusivity effectively influences the water absorption behavior, especially in the initial time of the process, where higher differences in the water migration rates into the material are found. The largest free and entrapped water molecule concentration gradients were found close to the composite surface, especially when considering constant mass diffusivity.

The purpose of this article was to theoretically study the non-Fickian moisture absorption process in vegetable-fiber-reinforced polymer composites using a Langmuir-type model. Here, the focus was on evaluating the effect of the water layer thickness that surrounds the composite during the water migration process. The solutions of the governing equations were obtained using the finite volume method, considering constant thermophysical properties and non-deformable material. The results for the local and average moisture content and concentration, gradient values, and the transient rates of the free and bound (water) molecules in the process were presented and analyzed. It was observed that the water layer thickness strongly influenced the water absorption kinetics, the moisture content gradient values, and the equilibrium moisture content inside the material. It is envisaged that this new approach will contribute to better interpretation of experimental data and a better understanding of the physical phenomenon of water absorption, which directly affects the properties of composite materials.

In the manufacturing process of ceramic brick, the step of drying needs the control of process variables to uniformly dry the porous material, producing a good end-product. The majority of numerical simulations involving drying of ceramic materials is performed considering only the solid domain, resulting in a very simplified and limited study. This way, the objective of this work is the analysis of the drying process with hot air of an industrial hollow clay brick inside the oven at different temperatures by using computational fluid dynamic (CFD). The results of the temperature and water mass distribution inside the brick and of air in the oven at different times of the drying process are shown, analyzed and checked with experimental data, and it was obtained in a concordance with the data. An equation to calculate the brick water mass diffusivity depending on the drying air temperature was proposed.

Nickel–titanium shape memory alloys (NiTi SMA) working in superelastic regime have been applied in several fields, such as health (medicine and dentistry) and engineering, in a static or dynamic way. The aim of this paper is to study the behavior of these smart metals when subjected to dynamic mechanical stresses (fatigue). Cyclic stress-controlled tensile tests were performed to evaluate the functional and structural superelastic fatigue properties of NiTi SMA wires. The functional parameters were defined as energy dissipation, transformation stresses, residual strain, and superelastic strain, for peak stresses between 500 and 800 MPa, at frequencies of 1, 2, and 3 Hz. These frequencies were determined after a preliminary evaluation of self-heating of the NiTi wires. The number of cycles until failure (Nf) was plotted as a function of peak stresses (S) in an S–Nf fatigue curve, for each studied frequency. It was verified that both frequency and peak stress affected the functional behavior of the NiTi wires. However, the fatigue life was between 5.0 × 103 and 1.6 × 104 cycles, with a faster degradation in this range as higher is the applied peak stress, irrespective of the loading frequency.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide theoretical and experimental information about polymer composite manufacturing reinforced with fiber by using Resin Transfer Molding process. It is a process, in which the liquid resin is injected in a closed mold with a fibrous preform inserted. This physical process is similar to the fluid flow in porous media, thus, the process control becomes essential. Here, diverse topics related to this theme, such as, theory, experiments, advanced macroscopic mathematical modeling, in which is included the effect of the resin sorption by fibers, exact solution of the governing equations, and technological applications are presented and well discussed. The study clarifies the importance of the resin sorption effect on the hydrodynamic of the resin flow inside the mold cavity and fibrous preform.

This work presents an experimental study on the behavior of clays during the drying process. Experimental tests were carried out with clay material for the production of red ceramics and white ceramic (ball clay). Different dimensions and the material initial moisture content plus temperature and relative air-drying humidity were taken into account. Drying kinetics and volume changes of parallelepiped-shaped samples were shown and analyzed. It has been verified that air-drying temperatures and body shape have an enormous influence on the drying rate process. The drying process occurs during the falling drying period and the volume changes display two linear periods.

This work aims to investigate the infiltration of a CaCO3filled resin in fibrous porous media (resin transfer molding process) using the PAM-RTM software. A preform of glass fiber mat (fraction 30%), with dimensions 320 x 150 x 3.6 mm, has been used in rectilinear injection experiments conducted at room temperature and injection pressure 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 bar. The polyester resin contain 0% and 40% CaCO3. The numerical results were evaluated by direct comparison with experimental data. The flat flow-front profile of the rectilinear flow was reached approximately half length of the mold. It was observed, that the both velocity infiltration and permeability have decreased with increasing the CaCO3content, thus, increasing the time to processing of the composite material.

This paper aims to present an experimental study of rough rice (BRSMG CONAI cultivar) drying by using a stationary method. The grain was dried in an oven with air mechanical movement under controlled conditions of velocity, temperature and relative humidity. In order to obtain balanced moisture content, the samples studied were kept at 40 and 70°C. Results of the drying and heating kinetics of the grain during the process are shown and analyzed. It was found that higher drying rate and lower time for drying as higher air temperature (70°C) is used. It can be concluded that the reduction of the moisture content of the grain, is considered very complex and, depending on the method and drying conditions, can substantially provokes breaking and cracks, which reduces final product quality.

Aiming to minimize the environmental pollution and reducing the production costs of the composite materials, the use of plant fibers improves their physical and mechanical properties. On the other hand, fibers have high water absorption, which may increase their volume and weaken the fiber/matrix interaction, affecting the mechanical features of the composites. Concerned with this problem, this research had the objective of making 3 and 10 millimeter-thick specimens, containing 23% (m/m) of Caroa fibers and 73% (m/m) of unsaturated polyester. Samples were withdrawn after 0, 2, 4, 7, 12 and 21 days of exposure at room temperature water (ASTM D570 − 98). Then, the test of tensile (ASTM D 3039), flexural (ASTM D 790-03) and impact (ASTM D 256) was realized and the mechanical properties were analyzed. The samples subjected to humidity had their fibers degraded and presented loss of mechanical properties, more significant in composite with 3 mm. For example, the reduction of the strengths tensile, after 21 days of test were 80% for composites with 3 mm and 60% for composites with 10 mm. Studies like this are important for long-term applications of such composites in humid environments.

The purpose of this paper is to present an experimental study of clay brick drying. For the drying experiments, industrial holed bricks were dried in an oven under controlled conditions of velocity, temperature (constant and variable) and relative humidity of air. The continuous drying experiments ended when the mass reached constant weight. Experimental tests were performed under atmospheric pressure. Results of the drying and heating kinetics and volume variations during the process are shown and analyzed. It was verified that the drying process happens in the falling drying rate period, and air temperature has large influence in the drying rate during process. It was verified that the largest temperature, moisture content and stress gradients are located in the vertexes of the brick.

Studies in polymer composites reinforced with vegetable fiber show that they are enough sensitive to influences from environmental agents such as water and temperature. The moisture causes degradation of the mechanical properties of natural fiber reinforced composites to a large extent when compared to synthetic fiber reinforced composites. This is a consequence of the higher moisture absorption, and the hydrofilic nature of the natural fiber. In this sense, the purpose of this work is to study theoretically the water absorption in unsaturated polyester composites reinforced with caroá natural fiber (Neoglazioviavariegata) at the temperature 50°C. The composite had a weight composition of 30% caroá and 70% unsaturated polyester resin and dimensions of 20× 20× 3 mm3. Results of the average moisture content and moisture content distribution during the absorption process are presented and analyzed. Comparison between numerical and experimental data of the average moisture content presented good agreement. We conclude that the water absorption rate is faster in the vertex region of the composites.

This work aims to investigate the infiltration of a CaCO3filled resin using experiments and the PAM-RTM software. A preform of glass fiber mat, with dimensions 320 x 150 x 3.6 mm, has been used for experiments conducted at room temperature, with injection pressure of 0.25bar. The resin contained 10 and 40% CaCO3content with particle size 38μm. The numerical results were evaluated by direct comparison with experimental data. The flat flow-front profile of the rectilinear flow was reached approximately halfway the length of the mold. It was observed, that the speed of the filling decreases with increasing CaCO3content and,the higher the amount of CaCO3in the resin, the lower the permeability of the reinforcement that is found. The reduction in permeability is due to the presence of calcium carbonate particles between the fibers, hindering the resin flow in the fibrous media. The computational fluid flow analysis with the PAM-RTM proved to be an accurate tool study for the processing of composite materials.

Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) is one of the most widely known composite manufacturing techniques of the liquid molding family, being extensively studied and used to obtain advanced composite materials comprised of fibers embedded in a thermoset polymer matrix. Nowadays, RTM is used by many industrial sectors such as automotive, aerospace, civil and sporting equipment. Therefore, the objective of this study is to verify the effect of calcium carbonate mixed in resin in the RTM process. Several rectilinear infiltration experiments were conducted using glass fiber mat molded in a RTM system with cavity dimensions of 320 x 150 x 3.6 mm, room temperature, maximum injection pressure 0.202 bar and different content of CaCO3 (10 and 40%) with particle size of 75μm. The results show that the use of filled resin with CaCO3 influences the preform impregnation during the RTM molding, changing the filling time and flow from position, however it is possible to make the composite with a good quality and low cost.

In this work, the effect of curing agent, curing conditions and the incorporation of small amounts of organoclay on the thermal properties of DGEBA (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A) epoxy resin was evaluated in order to develop an epoxy system for application as the matrix in active composites whose dispersed phase consists of shape memory alloy wires. The DGEBA resin was prepared using three amine derivatives as hardeners (triethylenetetramine - TETA, diethylenetriamine - DETA and diaminodiphenylsulfone - DDS) under varied curing conditions, in the absence and presence of organoclay. Epoxy systems were characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. According to the obtained results, the cured DETA and DDS epoxy systems at elevated temperatures, above 180°C, showed a higher glass transition temperature (Tg) and thermal stability values than the system cured at low temperature (TETA). In addition, when the post-cure treatment was used, an improvement of the thermal stability was verified. When 1 phr (parts hundred resin) of organoclay was incorporated in DETA and DDS cured epoxy systems and post-cured, either the increase in the Tg and thermal stability values were more significant, especially for the system cured with DDS. Hence, the epoxy/DDS/organoclay system (exfoliated nanocomposite) is the most appropriate to be used as the matrix in the preparation of active composites since this matrix is thermally stable in the Ni-Ti shape memory alloy working range whose phase transformation occurs between 70 and 80 °C.

This research is to obtain nanocomposites of HDPE/bentonite clay. Inorganic polymers reinforced with materials are of great interest due to their applications in automotive, and electrical and electronic industries. The nanocomposites were produced by melt intercalation with different percentages of clay and compared with pure HDPE. Clay was used as modified and unmodified and it was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The obtained nanocomposites were characterized through thermogravimetry (TG). It was verified by XRF that clay performed compositions of bentonites characteristics. By XRD, it was observed increases basal spacing for organoclay. By TG, in general, it was verified that the nanocomposites presented greater thermal stability in relation to HDPE.

The purpose of this paper is to present an experimental study of brick drying. For the drying experiments, industrial brick (clay) was dried in an oven under controlled conditions of air velocity, air temperature and air relative humidity. The continuous drying experiments ended when the mass reached constant weight. In order, to obtain the balanced moisture content, each sample was kept under the same drying air temperature for 48 hours inside the oven. The tests were performed under atmospheric pressure. Results of the drying and heating kinetics and volume variations during the process are shown and analyzed. It was verified that air temperature has big influence in the drying rate during process. It was verified that the largest temperature, moisture content and stress gradients are located in the vertexes of the brick. The drying process happens in the falling drying rate period.

Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) as it is most known process in the Resin Injections family, is an extensively studied and used processing method. This process is used to manufacture advanced composite materials made of fibres embedded in a thermoset polymer matrix. Fibre reinforcement in RTM processing of polymer composites is considered as a fibrous porous medium regarding its infiltration by the polymer resin. In this sense, the present work aims the computational analysis of a fluid in a porous media for a RTM composite moulding by using the ANSYS CFX® commercial software. In order to validate the numerical study of the fluid flow in a known RTM system, experiments was carried out in laboratory to characterize the fluid (vegetal oil) flowing into the porous media (0/90 glass fibre woven), were pressure and fibre volume fraction have been fixed. The numerical simulation provides information about volume fraction, pressure and velocity distribution of the phases (resin and air) inside the porous media. The predicted results were compared with the experimental data and its has shown a solid relationship between them.

In this paper, the influence of the geometric representation of samples of a composite material on the description of its water absorption is studied. It is supposed that diffusion models with boundary condition of the first kind satisfactorily describe the absorption, and that the volume and effective mass diffusivity are constant during the process. The geometries used to represent the samples are: infinite slab, rectangular plate and parallelepiped. The effective mass diffusivity is determined by coupling of the analytical solution corresponding to the model to an optimizer based on the inverse method. For the dimensions of the samples, based on statistical indicators obtained in the simulation of each model, it can be concluded that the best geometric representation is the parallelepiped. However, if there is no interest about the moisture distribution within the sample and the only objective of the research is to describe the water absorption kinetics, the infinite slab can also be used.

The Aim of this Work Is to Present a Three-Dimensional Mathematical Modelling to Predict Heat and Mass Transport inside the Industrial Brick with Rectangular Holes during the Drying Including Shrinkage and Hygrothermalelastic Stress Analysis. the Numerical Solution of the Diffusion Equation, Being Used the Finite-Volume Method, Considering Constant Thermo-Physical Properties and Convective Boundary Conditions at the Surface of the Solid, it Is Presented and Analyzed. Results of the Temperature, Moisture Content and Stress Distributions, and Drying and Heating Kinetics Are Shown and Analyzed. Results of the Average Moisture Content and Surface Temperature of the Brick along the Drying Process Are Compared with Experimental Data (T = 80.0oC and RH = 4.6 %) and Good Agreement Was Obtained. it Was Verified that the Largest Temperature, Moisture Content and Stress Gradients Are Located in the Intern and External Vertexes of the Brick.

Estudos de compósitos reforçados com fibras naturais mostram que as dificuldades associadas ao uso de fibras vegetais como reforço em compósito de polímeros são freqüentemente relacionadas à absorção de umidade. A presença de umidade leva à impregnação e adesão interfacial fibra-matriz imperfeitas, que geram tensões internas, porosidade e falha prematura do sistema. Este problema pode ser reduzido usando fibra híbrida tramada ou tecidos tricotados. Neste sentido, este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar numérica e experimentalmente a sorção de água em compósitos de juta e juta/vidro. Os compósitos de poliéster insaturados moldados por compressão e reforçados com tecido de juta e tecido híbrido de juta-vidro têm composições em peso de: a) 26% de juta/74% poliéster insaturado; e b) 26% juta/32% vidro/42% poliéster insaturado, e dimensões de 20,00 × 20,00 × 2,30 mm³ e 20,00 × 20,00 × 2,82 mm³, respectivamente. Um modelo matemático tridimensional de difusão transiente foi desenvolvido para predizer a transferência de massa durante a absorção de água. A formulação matemática foi resolvida numericamente usando o método de volumes finitos e um esquema de interpolação totalmente implícito. Os resultados da distribuição do teor de umidade dentro destes compósitos e cinética de absorção de água são mostrados e analisados. O conhecimento da distribuição de umidade permite verificar áreas mais favoráveis a problemas de delaminação devido à fraqueza da interface fibra-matriz e, por conseguinte redução nas propriedades mecânicas. Studies on composites reinforced with natural fibers show that the difficulties associated to the use of the vegetable fibers as reinforcement in polymer composites are frequently related to moisture absorption. The presence of moisture leads to imperfect impregnation and weak fiber-matrix interfacial adhesion, leading to the appearance of internal tensions, porosity, and premature failure of the system. This problem can be reduced by employing hybrid fiber weaved or knitted fabrics. This work is aimed at studying water sorption in composites of jute and jute/glass. The compression molded unsaturated polyester composites reinforced with jute fabric and a hybrid jute-glass fabric had the following weight compositions: a) 26% jute/74% unsaturated polyester; and b) 26% jute/32% glass roving/42% unsaturated polyester and dimensions of 20.00 × 20.00 × 2.30 mm³ and 20.00 × 20.00 × 2.82 mm³, respectively. A three-dimensional transient diffusion mathematical model was developed to predict mass transfer during water absorption. The mathematical formulation was numerically solved using a finite-volume method and an implicit interpolation scheme. The results of moisture content distribution inside these composites and water absorption kinetics are shown and analyzed. The knowledge of this moisture distribution allows verifying more favorable areas for delamination due to the weakness of the fiber-matrix interface and consequently reduction in the mechanical properties.

In the processing of high performance composite materials, the RTM process has been widely used by many sectors of the industry. This process consists in injecting a polymeric resin through a fibrous reinforcement arranged within a mold. In this sense, this study aims to simulate the rectilinear infiltration of pure resin and filled resin (40% CaCO3) in a mold with glass fiber preform, using the PAM-RTM commercial software. Numerical results of the filling time and fluid front flow position over time were assessed by comparison with the experimental data and a good accuracy was obtained.

Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) is one of the most widely known composite manufacturing technique of the liquid molding family, being extensively studied and used to obtain advanced composite materials comprised of fibers embedded in a thermoset polymer matrix. The fibrous reinforcement is considered a porous medium regarding its infiltration by the polymer resin. In this sense, this chapter aims to briefly discuss multiphase flow and heat transfer theory in RTM process, focusing on a multifluid model and the Control Volume/Finite Element (CV/FE) method. Finally, computational analysis was developed on the basis of ANSYS CFX® and PAM-RTM commercial software’s for the investigation of the fluid flow in RTM composite molding. In order to show the versatility and performance of the commercial codes, RTM experiments were carried under distinct injection pressure and fiber volume fraction conditions using plain-weave glass fiber cloth as the porous media. The transient numerical simulations provided information about volume fraction, pressure and velocity distribution of the phases (resin and air) inside the porous media.