A Mean-field Homogenization Method-based Design of Experiments for Fiber-reinforced Plastics

Abstract

Plastic materials are widely used as lighter alternatives to metals in all industries. Chopped fibers are often added as stiffeners during injection molding to increase the strength and durability of the part. The mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced plastics often exhibit a strong heterogeneity and anisotropy, which largely depends on how fibers are oriented during the injection molding process. The mean-field homogenization method is a widely used multiscale approach for modeling fiber-reinforced plastics. Using this approach, we have developed an integrated workflow of sequentially coupled plastic injection-to-structural analyses, taking into account of the fiber orientation results to better characterize the mechanical properties of the composite. In this study, we conducted two design of experiments analyses on a fully parameterized mounting boss model to study the effects of part thickness and gate location on the mass and maximum stress of the part.