A study on resin infusion and effects of reinforcement structure at dual scales by a quasi-realistic numerical simulation method.

In this article, we propose a random fiber configuration method to set up quasi-realistic geometric models of the fibrous tow in reinforcement. Finite element method is applied to simulate the injection of resin at dual scales (both intra and inter tows, 2D and 3D models). Permeabilities of dual scales in three directions (in horizonal, vertical and longitudinal directions) are also explored. The influence of variant structure parameters on the permeability is discussed in the meantime. Flow front tracking considering surface tension effect based on the dual-scale model is carried out to predict resin flow through the fibrous reinforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]