Simulation and experimental verification of the edge effect of composites on the infiltration process of RTM forming

To study the influence of edge effects on the resin filling flow pattern in the RTM process of composite materials, the finite element software PAM-RTM was used to simulate and analyze the impregnation process of the blade preforms in RTM.By observing separately the filling time of the resin and the flow state of the leading edge in the impregnation process under the conditions with and without edge effect, the influence of different fiber volume fractions in the edge area and different injection pressure differences on the filling time and flow process of the blades was discussed, and the feasibility of the simulation method was verified through experiments.The results show that the presence of edge effect can prolong the length of the resin filling front, thereby reducing the impregnation time of the blade by 15.8%, but the difference in edge permeability does not significantly affect the impregnation time of the blade. When the edge effect exists in the fiber preform, different injection pressures have significant influences on the filling time.The filling time decreases with the increase of pressure, and the decreasing trend gradually slows down.The simulated value of the resin filling time differs by 7.8% from the measured value, indicating that the simulation method is feasible to a certain extent.