Thermo-mechanical modeling of the temperature dependent forming behavior
of thermoplastic prepregs
Abstract
Numerical optimization of the manufacturing process of hybrid
lightweight struc- tures consisting of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP)
is of high importance. It can reduce the time to market and can also
avoid the production of costly prototypes. To model the considered
thermoforming process, the temperature dependent defor- mation
mechanisms have to be characterized and modeled within a finite element
framework. An industry-oriented approach based on the parameterization
of a mate- rial model implemented in LS-DYNA is introduced. The
accordingly parameterized material model for the FRP is eventually
applied in the simulation of thermoforming processes to show the
influence of process and material parameters on the forming behavior of
the thermoplastic prepreg.