Pultrusion Process Analysis Using Knowledge-Based System

This paper describes the development and validation of analytical and numerical procedures for the simulation of temperature and cure profiles for the pultrusion process. The governing equations for heat transfer and the resin cure reaction during pultrusion are presented and finite-difference procedure is developed to solve the governing equations. Then analytical and numerical procedures are integrated into the ACES (Automated Concurrent Engineering System) software environment. It is shown that the procedures are numerically stable and predict the temperature and cure profiles, which are in good agreement with those published by other researchers. This analysis leads to the prediction of the temperature and cure distribution along the length and through the thickness of the composite. The prediction of the temperature and cure distribution enables proper selection of process variables, which affects the production rate and quality of the parts.