Modeling of the Dynamic of Polymer-Glass Fibers Composites

LEANDRO LUDUEÑA; JIMENA GONZÁLEZ; JOSÉ CARELLA; VERA ALVAREZ; CARLOS DARAIO

Praga

Congreso; 7th International Conference on Nanostructured Polymers and Nanocomposites,; 2012

The shear forces induced in injection molding processes of polymer/fiber composites produce fiber breakage which detriments the final properties of the material. Therefore, the prediction of the evolution of the topology of the fibers during the molding process is a critical aspect for obtaining an optimal final product. The fibers into the mold runners can be thought as a population of entities that break as they move along a capillary. As such, the population balance equation (PBE) can be used to study the evolution of the fibers. This equation makes a statistical description of the evolution of a group of entities, and has been applied to problems in physics, chemistry and engineering but not for this particular case. The aim of this work is to develop a simple model to predict the evolution of the rupture of fibers of polymer-glass fiber composites flowing throughout a capillary at controlled flow fields using the PBE. The least squares spectral method will be used to solve the equation.