Modeling of a thermoplastic pultrusion process

TL;DRAbstract

To obtain a fundamental understanding of the effects of processing parameters and die geometry in a pultrusion process, a mathematical model is essential in order to minimize the number of trial-and-error experiments. Previous investigators have suggested a variety of more or less complete models for thermoset pultrusion, while little effort seems to have been spent modeling its less well-understood thermoplastic equivalent. Hence, a set of intricately related models to describe the temperature and pressure distributions, as well as the matrix flow, in a thermoplastic composite as it travels through the pultrusion die is presented. An approach to calculate the accumulated pulling force is also explored, and the individual mechanisms contributing to the pulling force are discussed. The pressure model incorporates a matrix viscosity that varies with shear rate, temperature, and pressure. Comparisons are made between shear-rate-dependent and Newtonian viscosity representations, indicating

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