Simulation of thermoplastic prepreg thermoforming based on a visco-hyperelastic model and a thermal homogenization

•Thermoplastic prepreg forming is simulated by alternate thermal and forming analyses.•The thermal conductivities are determined by mesoscopic analyses and homogenization.•The viscous-hyperelastic model uses the convolution integrals.•The thermoforming of an industrial part is realized both by experiments and simulation.•The simulation of the thermoforming of an industrial part is compared to experiments.

The simulation of thermoplastic prepreg forming is achieved by alternating thermal and forming analyses. The thermal properties are obtained from a mesoscopic analysis and a homogenization procedure. The forming simulation is based on a viscous-hyperelastic approach. The thermal simulations define the coefficients of the mechanical model that depends on the temperature. The forming simulations modify the boundary conditions and the internal geometry of the thermal analyses. The comparison of the simulation with an experimental thermoforming of a part representative of automotive applications shows the efficiency of the approach.

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