COMPRESSION MOLDING SIMULATION OF CHOPPED FIBER REINFORCED POLYMERIC COMPOSITES IN PLATE-RIB TYPE GEOMETRY

Abstract

A study on anisotropic material flow of polymeric composites in compression molding was conducted. Flow resistance and material anisotropy were measured by compression and tension tests to quantify the inhomogeneity of chopped fiber reinforced polymeric composites. The material was assumed to obey Hill's anisotropic yield criterion with its associated flow rule. An anisotropic finite element formulation was developed to simulate the material flow under various conditions. This two-dimensional model was applied to plane strain compression in a mold with plate-rib type geometry to substantiate the effect of fiber induced anisotropy. The predictions were compared with experimental results.