https://popups.uliege.be/esaform21/index.php?id=1687 Publications of Auteurs Benjamin Gröger fr 0 https://popups.uliege.be/esaform21/index.php?id=4293 Thermally supported clinching (Hotclinch) is a novel promising process to join dissimilar materials. Here, metal and fibre-reinforced thermoplastics (FRTP) are used within this single step joining process and without the usage of auxiliary parts like screws or rivets. For this purpose, heat is applied to improve the formability of the reinforced thermoplastic. This enables joining of the materials using conventional clinching-tools. Focus of this work is the modelling on mesoscopic scale for the numerical simulation of this process. The FTRP-model takes the material behaviour both of matrix and the fabric reinforced organo-sheet under process temperatures into account. For describing the experimentally observed phenomena such as large deformations, fibre failure and the interactions between matrix and fibres as well as between fibres themselves, the usage of conventional, purely Lagrangian based FEM methods is limited. Therefore, the combination of contact-models with advanced modelling approaches like Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE), Coupled-Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) and Smooth-ParticleHydrodynamics (SPH) for the numerical simulation of the clinching process are employed. The different approaches are compared with regard to simulation feasibility, robustness and results accuracy. It is shown, that the CEL approach represents the most promising approach to describe the clinching process. Thu, 01 Apr 2021 17:51:44 +0200 Thu, 01 Apr 2021 17:51:44 +0200 https://popups.uliege.be/esaform21/index.php?id=4293 https://popups.uliege.be/esaform21/index.php?id=4266 Liquid composite molding (LCM) has established as a high quality manufacturing process for fiber reinforced composite structures. In order to reduce cycle times significantly, novel fast curing matrix resins are being introduced into series production. These put high requirements on process control and part reproducibility. Problems that may be encountered in this context involve process-induced distortion and surface waviness resulting from anisotropic and cure-dependent material properties. Numerical simulations represent a powerful approach to avoid the use of costly trial-and-error methods. For this reason, a simulation approach is being developed which aims at the prediction of residual stresses and accompanying effects on different length scales. Based on a resin characterization comprising reaction kinetics, cure-dependent relaxation modulus as well as thermal expansion and pressure-dependent chemical shrinkage, a generalized MAXWELL model is selected to describe the process-related mechanical behavior of the thermoset. Taking into account the influence of the process parameters on the resin properties enables a detailed analysis of process-property-relationships. By this, the developed simulation approach offers the possibility of a comprehensive analysis of both local and global process-induced phenomena and hence prevention of flaws. Thu, 01 Apr 2021 17:37:36 +0200 Thu, 01 Apr 2021 17:37:36 +0200 https://popups.uliege.be/esaform21/index.php?id=4266