Research Initiation: Investigation of the Thermomechanical Behavior of Compression Molded Fiber Reinforced Composite Parts

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The thermomechanical behavior of fiber reinforced composite parts will be investigated. The objective of the study is to conduct research in modeling, analysis and process simulation of the thermomechanical behavior of compression molded fiber reinforced polymer parts. Such a study will increase our understanding of the phenomena and the physics behind shrinkage, warpage and surface waviness of reinforced plastic parts. The project can be divided into two portions: an experimental and a computer modeling potion,. The experimental aspect of the research deals with thermomechanical material properties qualification and characterization. Here, the effect that different types of matrices and fillers have on part's properties will be studied. During these studies different degrees of fiber orientation will be considered. In the second portion of the project a finite element computer simulation of the thermomechanical processes that take place during molding will be developed. The simulation will be compared to parts of complex geometry molded under realistic industrial processing conditions. Understanding the thermomechanical behavior of plastics and being able to predict filling patterns, fiber orientation, shrinkage, warpage and surface waviness before a part is actually molded leads to higher part quality and eliminates some of the expensive and time consuming tasks done in the early stages of part and mold design.