Numerical simulation of forming of thermoplastic composites PPS / Carbon fiber

Abstract

This research aims to model the stamp-forming process of polyphenylene sulfide/carbon fiber (PPS/CF) thermoplastic composite to predict the shape distortions during the forming process, such as wrinkles, fiber orientations and thickness distribution. Forming simulations and experiments of multi-layer laminates of PPS/CF composites were successfully performed for several geometries from simple to complex shapes. The primary deformation mechanisms of PPS/CF material were examined in this study. Numerical models that could take into account these mechanisms were determined. A good combination of primary numerical models used for stamp-forming prediction was investigated. Intra-ply shear, bending behaviours and the contact logic between the individual plies and between tool-ply were considered in this work. The effects of friction between tool/ply and between ply/ply on the quality of stamp forming were investigated. The differences between experimental and numerical results in terms of thickness, shear-angle and wrinkle distributions were minimized using a multi-objective optimization technique to identify the material parameters used for forming simulations. A good agreement was found between the experimental results and the predicted results. The obtained data including the optimized material parameters and the best numerical model combination were applied for the stamp-forming of several other geometries and different laminate stacking sequences. In this research project, forming simulations were successfully used as an efficient and low cost tool for mold design for the stamp-forming of thermoplastic composite PPS/CF materials.

Date	28 Sept 2015
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	École de technologie supérieure
Supervisor	Tan Pham (Supervisor)