Simulation optimization of the filling process of vacuum infusion molding process for composite yacht hull

Abstract

Vacuum infusion molding process(VIMP) is widely used for manufacturing the composite yacht hull, but the process parameters are designed by experience or lots of experiments. In this paper, the filling process of VIMP for composite yacht hull was deeply analyzed based on numerical simulation technology. Firstly, we simulated the filling process of yacht hull under different ply schemes, evaluated the manufacturability of the ply scheme based on the simulation results. Secondly, we determined the best runner layout pattern by simulating the filling process under four different runner layout patterns. Lastly, we studied the optimization method for gate locating of VIMP, established the mathematical model for optimizing the gate location and obtained the concrete form of the object function after a series of simulations, then obtained the optimal gate location result. The simulations also showed that it is inadvisable to reduce the filling time just by adding the gate quantity. © the authors.