Phenomenological-Based Constitutive Model and Simulation of Fiber Interaction for Short Fiber Composite Processing

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Short-fiber polymer composites enjoy widespread industrial application due in large part to their high strength-to-weight ratios and versatile manufacturing processes. However, today?s melt flow simulation tools, which are commonly used to predict fiber microstructure and thermo-mechanical properties, employ simplified empirically-derived fiber collision models that have recently been shown to over-predict the rate of fiber alignment during processing. The main objectives of this research are to develop a phenomenological-based constitutive model for fiber collisions in a general fluid and to use this new modeling approach to predict fiber orientation states for industrial-level products. This work includes a new single fiber collision model derived from fiber-fiber and fiber-fluid interaction kinematics, a related multi-scale continuum representation, a simplified calculation procedure suitable for use with industrial applications, an investigation into its applicability to nano-tube processing, and model validation and verification. It is expected that the foundational development of this new fiber interaction model will provide unique insight into a wide range of applications resulting in more accurate and efficient composite processing design procedures.Broader impacts of this research stem from new and unique educational activities aimed at increasing the awareness of local youth, high school students, and undergraduate engineering students to the use of computation in engineering. Specific tasks include the development of new engineering training materials for regional youth organizations and college-bound high school students, and new computational projects for undergraduate engineers. The proposed activities will leverage existing efforts for attracting students from under-represented groups while enhancing the research infrastructure through collaborative activities.