Document Type

Article

Edition

Special Issue—Advanced Thermoplastic Polymers and Composites

Editor

Somen K. Bhudolia

Sunil Chandrakant Joshi

Publication Title

Polymers

Publisher

MDPI

Rights and Access Note

© 2022 The Authors

Publication Date

5-4-2022

First Page

1877

Issue Number

9

Volume Number

14

Abstract/ Summary

An improved simulation-based thermoforming design process based on the integration of material characterization and as-formed structural analysis is proposed. The tendency of thermoplastic composites to wrinkle during forming has made simulation critical to optimized manufacturing, but the material models required are complex and time consuming to create. A suite of experimental methods has been developed for measurement of several required properties of the molten thermoplastic composite. These methods have the potential to enhance thermoplastic composites manufacturing by simplifying and expediting the process. These material properties have been verified by application to thermomechanical forming predictions using commercial simulation software. The forming predictions showed improved agreement with experimental results compared to those using representative material properties. A tool for using thermoforming simulations to inform more accurate structural models has been tested on a simple case study, and produced results that clearly differ from those of models using idealized fiber orientations and thicknesses. This provides evidence that this type of as-formed analysis may be necessary in some cases, and may be further investigated as an open source alternative to commercial analysis software.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Bean P, Lopez-Anido RA, Vel S. Integration of Material Characterization, Thermoforming Simulation, and As-Formed Structural Analysis for Thermoplastic Composites. Polymers. 2022; 14(9):1877. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14091877

Publisher Statement

MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14091877

Version

publisher's version of the published document

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Share

 

Rights Statement

In Copyright