Kinetic equation parameters for the curing reaction of a commercial glass fiber reinforced high performance epoxy prepreg composed of the tetrafunctional epoxy tetraglycidyl 4,4-diaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM), the tetrafunctional amine curing agent 4,4’-diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) and an ionic initiator/accelerator, are determined by various thermal analysis techniques and the results compared. The reaction is monitored by heat generated determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The changes in physical properties indicating increasing conversion are followed by shifts in glass transition temperature determined by DSC and temperature-modulated DSC (TMDSC), thermomechanical (TMA) and dynamic mechanical (DMA) analysis and thermally stimulated depolarization (TSD). Changes in viscosity, also indicative of degree of conversion, are monitored by DMA. Thermal stability as a function of degree of cure is monitored by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The parameters of the general kinetic equations, including activation energy and rate constant, are explained and used to compare results of various techniques. The utilities of the kinetic descriptions are demonstrated in the construction of a useful time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram for rapid determination of processing parameters in the processing of prepregs. Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Files: Thesis.pdf Special Conditions

<p dir="ltr">Defects in composite manufacturing often lead to compromised structural integrity and reduced performance of the final product. A robust constitutive modeling framework is needed to efficiently and accurately predict the deformation responses of dry fabrics and pre-impregnated fibers, paving the way for defect simulation. This thesis presents a comprehensive study on the development and application of a novel constitutive model of fabric preforms and pre-impregnated fibers during composite manufacturing processes.</p><p dir="ltr">This work proposes an integrated constitutive study for textile fabrics in the aspects of mesoscale tow and macroscale fabric behavior. First, a textile architecture-based discrete modeling approach was developed to predict and visualize fiber tow and fabric deformation. The fabrics consist of interlacing virtual fiber tows which are represented by Timoshenko beams joined by translational and rotational springs and rotary dashpots, which are used to capture the energy dissipation during in-plane shear deformation. Second, an anisotropic hyper-viscoelastic model was developed using the strain energy density function of a homogenized unit cell to predict the fabric deformation as a continuous field. A Maxwell model consisting of one Maxwell element and an additional spring is used to consider the nonequilibrium stresses generated during in-plane shear, transverse shear, and through-thickness compaction deformations. Both approaches were experimentally characterized and applied to a hemisphere draping model in the commercial Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software, Abaqus, to demonstrate the predictive capabilities.</p><p dir="ltr">Then, the robust hyper-viscoelastic model is extended to predict prepreg compaction and bending behavior. In the compaction aspect, a coupling term of energy that captures the effect of squeezing flow and a highly nonlinear transverse compression energy are proposed to predict the compaction response of prepreg with liquid and rubbery resin. The viscoelastic parameters were characterized by a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model for liquid resin and a discrete micromechanics model for rubbery resin. The method was applied to stepwise compaction simulation at different temperatures in Abaqus and compared to experiments for validation. In the bending aspect, the effective shear modulus is expressed as a function of the second-order gradient of deformation. Modeling parameters were characterized by an analytical model that captures the underlying fiber and matrix deformation mechanism. Parametric study was conducted to illustrate the influence of each parameter and the capability to enhance the accuracy of bending prediction.</p>

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude du comportement en flexion des renforts textiles et préimprégnés thermoplastiques par des méthodes expérimentales et numériques. Pour préimprégnés thermoplastique, aux températures élevées, la résine est à l'état fondu, et un glissement entre les fibres est possible. En conséquence la rigidité de flexion n'est pas directement liée au module de rigidité de traction dans le plan comme c'est le cas pour les matériaux continus classiques. Par conséquent, il est nécessaire de mesurer sa valeur par l'expérience. Un procédé de test de la rigidité à la flexion a été proposée pour les préimprégnés thermoplastiques. Il est réalisé dans une enceinte thermique. Une caméra CCD a été utilisé pour acquérir le profil de la déformation de flexion à différentes températures élevées en particulier au voisinnage du point de fusion. Le moment de flexion et la courbure ont été calculés le long de la ligne médiane de la profil de la déformation. La pente de la courbe moment-courbure est la rigidité à la flexion. Avec cette méthode, des essais de flexion ont été effectués sur plusieurs préimprégnés thermoplastiques. Pour simuler la déformation de flexion de matériaux fibreux épais, un élément de coque spécifique a été développée. Cet élément est constitué de segments de fibres continues. La rigidité de traction et de flexion de la fibre ont été prise en compte de dans l'énergie de deformation de cet élément. La forme curviligne locale a été construit pour tout segment de fibre a partir des voisins. Il a été utilisé pour caractériser les déformations de traction et de flexion pour le segment de la fibre. Plusieurs tests de simulation de flexion ont été réalisées avec cet élément de coque spécifique et ont été comparés avec les résultats expérimentaux pour montrer l'efficacité de cet élément proposé. Les résultats montrent cet élément de coque spécifique a une bonne capacité à simuler la déformation en flexion des matériaux fibreux épais. / This thesis is devoted to study the bending behaviour of textile reinforcements and thermoplastic prepregs by the experimental and numerical methods. At the high temperature, since the resin is melted, fibers would have the slippage between them, resulting the bending stiffness of thermoplastic prepreg is not directly related to its in-plane tensile modulus as the conventional continuous materials. Consequently, it's necessary to measure its value by the experimental method. A bending stiffness test approach was proposed for thermoplastic prepreg at elevated temperature. It was operated in an environmental chamber and a CCD camera was used to acquire the bending deflection shape. Bending moment and curvature were calculated along the midline of bending deflection shape. The slope of moment-curvature curve is the bending stiffness. With this method, bending tests were conducted for several types of thermoplastic prepregs at a range of high temperatures. In order to simulate the bending deformation of thick fibrous materials, a specific shell element was developed. This element was made of continuous fiber segments. Both the tensile and bending stiffnesses of fibers were taken into account. Local curve was constructed for any fiber segment and its two neighbors, which was used to characterize the tensile and bending deformations of fiber segment. Several bending simulation tests were performed with this specific shell element and were compared with the experimental results to show its efficiency. The results show this specific shell element has good capability to simulate the bending deformation of thick fibrous materials.

Les véhicules de demain, (2020), devront diminuer leurs émissions globales de CO2 de 30% selon les directives européennes. Une solution qui apparait aujourd’hui comme inévitable est la substitution des métaux présents dans les châssis de véhicules par des matériaux composites plus légers et tout aussi performants. Pour généraliser cette approche à tout le secteur automobile, un temps court de fabrication des pièces est exigé pour satisfaire les cadences de production allant jusqu’à 1000 véhicules par jour. La production automatisée et robotisée de ces matériaux, basée sur la technologie de photo-polymérisation au moyen de rayonnements UV, répond à ces exigences. Le procédé de fabrication élaboré se décompose en deux phases : une phase de fabrication automatisée de pré-imprégnés (prépregs), produits semi-finis, et une phase de mise en forme et d’obtention du produit final (composite UV). La première étape consiste en l’imprégnation d’un renfort fibreux sec par une résine liquide photo-polymérisable, puis l’irradiation de celle-ci par des rayonnements UV, de manière à ce que la résine ne soit pas totalement polymérisée. On obtient alors un prépreg collant. La seconde étape de fabrication impose que les pré-imprégnés soient conditionnés parfaitement sous forme de bobines pour qu’ils soient intégrés dans un dispositif robotisé de dépose. D’où la nécessité de concevoir et de réaliser une machine automatisée de production des pré-imprégnés (objet de cette thèse). Cette machine a nécessité une automatisation se caractérisant par l'utilisation d'outils d'instrumentation et de pilotage modernes (servomoteurs Brushless, IHM, capteurs, …). Les essais réalisés sur cette machine ont permis de réaliser des premiers prépregs, dont les résultats ont conduit à des pistes de réflexion pour approfondir l'automatisation de la machine en vue d'améliorer le procédé de fabrication de ces prépregs. / The overall CO2 emission of the future vehicles, (2020), must be reduced by 30%, according to European directives. A solution that seems inevitable nowadays is the substitution of metals present in the vehicle chassis by lighter and equally efficient composite-materials. To generalize this approach throughout the automotive sector, a short manufacturing time of these materials is required to meet the high required production rates, of up to 1000 vehicles per day. The automated and robotic production of these materials, depending on the photo polymerization technology by UV radiation, meets these requirements. The developed automated manufacturing process consists of two phases: the phase of automated manufacturing of semi-finished composite (prepreg), and the phase of shaping and obtaining the final composite (UV composite). The first phase depends on the impregnation of fibrous reinforcement with a photo-polymerizable and liquid resin, then, on the partial irradiation of impregnated reinforcement with UV rays, in such a way that the resin is not completely cured. Thereby, a tacky prepreg is obtained. The second phase of automated manufacturing process requires that the prepregs must be perfectly reeled up in a form of coils, so that they can be incorporated in a robotic lay-up placement head. Hence, the need to design and produce a machine of automated prepreg production (subject of this thesis) is absolutely necessary. This machine requires automation, characterized by the use of modern instrumentations and control tools (Brushless Servo, Human–computer interface HCI, sensors...). The tests performed by this machine have enabled the production of the first prepregs, of which the results led to further approaches to develop the automation of this machine in order to improve the prepregs manufacturing process.