Modeling the Unsaturated Flow in Liquid Composite Molding Processes: A Review and Some Thoughts

The liquid composite molding (LCM) processes for manufacturing polymer composites involve injecting a thermoset resin into a fiber-packed mold cavity. Very often, the fiber preform behind the resin front is partially saturated during the mold-filling process in LCM, giving rise to an unsaturated flow in that region. This paper first discusses the role of dual-scale porous media in inducing unsaturated flow in certain directional (woven, stitched, or braided) mats due to the delayed impregnation of tows. The approach of using a sink term in the mass balance equation is compared with the traditional approach of using unsaturated permeability for modeling unsaturated flow in dual-scale directional mats. Later, the relation of unsaturated flow with the phenomenon of bubble formation and migration is discussed. The lack of connection between the unsaturated flow research on the one hand, and the bubble creation and migration research on the other, is highlighted next. A few suggestions are offered on related topics, including the modeling of bubble motion, and the need for accurate experiments in unsaturated flow.

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