Award Date

1-1-1998

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Committee Member

Robert Boehm

Number of Pages

125

Abstract

Experimental and numerical modeling was done to analyze the thermal processes, focusing on the cooling rates, that occurred in a simulated representation of a composite material manufacturing process. The simulation apparatus was constructed similar to that of a compression molding device to represent the thermal process of the pultrusion machine. The simulation block utilized temperature variations and compaction pressure to create small samples that represented sections from a pultruded geometry. In this study, the thermal performance of this device was analyzed utilizing a numerical model. The effect of cooling passages and their location in the simulation block was also analyzed. The numerical results were then compared with the experimental measurements of sample centerline temperature, ambient temperature, die surface temperature, and die surface heat loss. Measured values were then compared with the initial predicted values. Experimental modeling was then done on the pultrusion machine which gave the transient temperature field experienced by a standard cross-section of material being pultruded. Comparisons were then made between the two types of experimental measurements and numerical estimates. Conclusions were drawn about the ability of the simulant device to match the thermal conditions of the pultrusion machine, in particular the cooling rate, found in the actual pultrusion process.

Keywords

Cooling; Process; Pultrusion; Simulator

Controlled Subject

Mechanical engineering

File Format

pdf

File Size

2816 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

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