A Heat Transfer Analysis of the Fiber Placement Composite Manufacturing Process

A computer code is developed to accurately simulate the three-dimensional heat transfer during the thermoset fiber placement composite manufacturing process. The code is based on the Lagrangian formulation of the problem. Eight-node brick elements are employed, and the 2 × 2 × 2 integration rule is used to numerically evaluate the integrals over an element. The coupled ordinary differential equations obtained by the semidiscrete formulation of the problem are integrated by the unconditionally stable backward difference method. The code is validated by comparing the computed results for several problems with those available in the literature. Composite rings are manufactured by continuously laying a tape over a cylindrical mandrel and the temperature histories at several points are measured with thermocouples. The computed temperature distribution is found to compare well with the test findings. The code can be used to optimize the processing variables.