Mesoscale modelling of compaction-induced wrinkles in laminated composites at the cost of a macroscale simulation

Accurate and efficient process simulation methods are becoming essential for the effective and sustainable design and manufacturing of composite structures. In the present paper, a modelling framework for predicting the mesoscale structure of industrial scale composite laminate made by autoclave moulding is developed. The aim of the framework is to fully automate the modelling process in an efficient way, to remove the barriers to its utilisation in an industrial setting and enable a process simulation based iterative design methodology. The modelling framework was constructed using a previously developed homogenised material model. To utilise the material model, pre-processing and post-processing tools were custom-built to automate simulations, along with an automated ply-book design tool. A reconstruction tool, which uses the strains extracted during the homogenised simulation to calculate the deformation of individual plies was developed, enabling an accurate depiction of the consolidated geometry on a ply-by-ply level, in a more computationally efficient way than any previous high-fidelity approach. A thick laminate was designed, manufactured, and inspected to validate the developed simulation tools.