Optimising the flow pipe arrangement for resin infusion under flexible tooling

A method is presented to optimise the flow pipe arrangement for the RIFT process for complex 212D geometries. To this end, a mesh distance-based model is coupled to a genetic optimisation algorithm. The mesh distance-based model is based on the assumption that the resin fills the nodes closest to the inlets first. It was verified with cases known from literature and with the results from a physically based flow model. The genetic algorithm provides a stable and effective optimisation method. A variable crossover rate increased its effectiveness. Depending on the choice of fitness function, the method can be used to optimise the different production parameters such as flow pipe position and length, fill distance and number of vents.