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Material Properties And Heat Transfer Parameters In Compression Molding Of Glass Mat Thermoplastics, Cheng Xu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The compression molding of glass mat thermoplastics (GMT) allows high volume manufacture of composite parts with a short production cycle. Computer simulation is often used to assist process development and optimization. Reliable simulation depends on input of material property parameters and accurate prediction of heat transfer. This thesis developed experimental methods to characterize material property and heat transfer process parameters. Results were obtained by applying the methods to a selected commercial GMT sheet. Heat transfer coefficients including convection coefficients during pre-heating and transfer, as well as contact conductance at sheet-mold interface were estimated by a parameter-fitting approach. Viscoelastic parameters of …