Published in the Proceedings of the International Composites Expo '97

January 27-29, 1997, Nashville, Tennessee

Session 11-F

AN INVESTIGATION OF POST-FILL CURING BEHAVIOR OF COMPRESSION MOLDED SMC PARTS

H. U. Akay, O. Selcuk, O. Gurdogan, M. Revellino and L. Saggese

Abstract

Curing analysis of a compression molded SMC part, performed using Technalysis' compression molding simulation program PASSAGE®/Compression, is presented in this paper. A truck panel is modeled with two different SMC formulations. The curing behavior of the two formulations are compared.

Introduction

Fiber orientation and curing characteristics of compression molded SMC parts are of interest for determination of warpage and structural integrity of such parts. Studies pertaining to mold filling and fiber orientation analysis of compression molded parts using a computer program developed by Technalysis were presented elsewhere, e.g., (Technalysis, 1996; Reifschneider and Akay, 1994 Reifschneider, et al., 1995).

In this paper, we summarize our recent studies conducted for curing simulation of SMC parts. Since the thermoset SMC undergoes chemical reactions when subjected to heat during compression molded processes, a complete curing analysis of such materials requires the solution of flow and heat transfer equations coupled with the curing kinetics of the material during the molding process. The material gains rigidity as the chemical reaction takes place with temperature. Hence, the time needed for the molded material to reach the rigid state is of importance in terms of deciding when to remove the part from the mold. In the present work, coupled fluid flow and heat transfer equations are solved during the filling stage, while coupled heat transfer and curing kinetics equations are solved until the material reaches its gel point following the filling stage.

H.U. Akay, O. Selcuk and O. Gurdogan, Technalysis Inc., Indianapolis, IN - USA
M. Revellino and L. Saggese, Iveco, SpA, Torino, ITALY