A new anisotropic viscous constitutive model for composites molding simulation

Simulation methods, particularly those implemented in commercially available software, for the prediction of flow and fiber orientation in polymer composites molding processes typically neglect the coupling between flow and orientation which presents as anisotropic viscosity due to reinforcing fibers. While several particular solutions have been performed for simple geometries, the application of tensor based anisotropic constitutive behavior presents solution difficulties; thus, any potential consequences of neglecting coupling have been accepted in favor of developing and implementing additional complexity to the orientation evolution models. Here, a simple model is presented by which flow and orientation analysis can be coupled through a scalar viscosity function such that minimal adjustment to existing solvers is required for implementation.