Non-isothermal direct bundle simulation of SMC compression molding with a non-Newtonian compressible matrix

Compression molding of Sheet Molding Compounds (SMC) is a manufacturing process in which a stack of discontinuous fiber-reinforced thermoset sheets is formed in a hot mold. The reorientation of fibers during this molding process can be either described by macroscale models based on Jeffery's equation or by direct mesoscale simulations of individual fiber bundles. In complex geometries and for long fibers, direct bundle simulations outperform the accuracy of state-of-the-art macroscale approaches in terms of fiber orientation and fiber volume fraction. However, it remains to be shown that they are able to predict the necessary compression forces. In this contribution, both approaches are applied to the elongational flow in a press rheometer and compared to experiments with 23\% glass fiber volume fraction. Compared to previous work on direct bundle simulation, the material model is extended to include non-isothermal, non-Newtonian and compaction effects. The results show that the mesoscale direct bundle simulation accurately predicts individual contributions to the total compression force. Jeffery's basic model is able to predict orientations similar to the high-fidelity mesoscale model. For planar SMC flow, this basic model appears to be even better suited than the more advanced orientation models with diffusion terms developed for injection molding.