COMPOSITES IN AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS: SIMULATION OF LEAF SPRING PROCESSING

摘要

The IFC Composite GmbH has developed a highly automated procedure for producing leaf springs using a nonisothermal prepreg-press-process. The actual production capacity is 250.000 leaf springs a year. In order to expand the range of applications in the cost driven automotive industry, a simulation tool is necessary which enables to estimate production costs for different geometries. In this paper methods are presented to simulate the flow and the curing during the processing. Especially the dependence of curing on the thermodynamic parameters is explained as well as their influence on the energy balance.