Modeling and Simulation of the Thermoforming Process in Thermoplastic Composite Materials Thermoplastic-matrix composite materials have unique advantages including faster processing, improved fracture-toughness, and recyclability. These and other benefits have caused increasing interest in the use of these materials in both aerospace and automotive industries. Due to the differences in behavior, these materials require a different type of manufacturing process to thermoset--matrix composites. This manufacturing process generally involves using pre-manufactured tape-layers. These layers, containing both thermoplastic-matrix and fiber-reinforcement, are aligned to the desired orientation, stacked up, they are then heated to the thermoplastic melting temperature in an oven and stamped to shape using a large press. Due to some complex behaviors in processing, however, it is necessary to simulate the forming process prior to manufacturing. Simulation can help to avoid costly trial-and-error type process tuning in order to avoid manufacturing defects. A research effort has been undertaken in order to streamline the process of material characterization toward simulation using commercially available software. This includes a variety of material tests, as well as forming tests in order to compare simulated results, such as predicted wrinkles and fiber reorientations in complex-shaped parts, to real parts manufactured under the same conditions as the simulations.

Faculty Mentor: Roberto Lopez-Anido