Towards a complete three-dimensional cure simulation of thermosetting composites

Three-dimensional simulations of the curing process are carried out for interesting geometrical shapes, and several parametric studies are performed to gain insights that may enhance the design of process conditions for the manufacture of composite components. The solution paradigm is that of a sequentially coupled thermal stress analysis. First, the temperature and degree of cure fields are solved, based on Fourier's heat conduction law and a chemically-induced internal heat generation term. A stress analysis is performed based on a temperature- and cure-dependent viscoelastic model. Implementation of this constitutive model takes the form of a new time-integration scheme proposed by Poon and Ahmad, which can be incorporated into general-purpose implicit FEM codes.