A Streamline-Integration Technique for Simulating Build-Up of Process-Induced Stresses and Shape Distortions in Thermoset Pultrusion Processes

Limiting shape distortions and residual stresses are of utmost importance when ensuring the structural integrity and the quality of fibre-reinforced thermoset composites. This paper presents a novel method for 3D thermo-chemical-mechanical analysis of pultrusion processes to analyse process-induced stresses and deformations. As opposed to established methods that rely on coupling a 3D transient Eulerian thermo-chemical analysis with a Lagrangian mechanical analysis, this framework presents a novel method to simultaneously solve for all variables in the same Eulerian domain. As demonstrated in the paper, the framework benefits from significant improvements in computation times (a reduction of 95% compared to established methods) without sacrificing solution accuracy.