Paper number 179

A MINIMALIST SENSOR SYSTEM FOR MOLD FILLING

Sylvia R.M. Kueh1, Suresh G. Advani1 and Richard S. Parnas2

1Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
2Polymers Division, 100 Bureau Dr., Stop 8543, National Institute of Standards & Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Summary Reliable mold filling remains the most critical issue in the commercial application of liquid composite molding. Many techniques of observing the flow are either cumbersome or too invasive for routine service. Combining the sensor output from a single, evanescent wave optical fiber sensor with flow simulation results can provide discrimination between normal mold filling behavior and a variety of flow disturbances. The fiber sensor is operated in evanescent wave mode to provide a lineal signal rather than a point signal, and the flow simulation model is used to design the optimal sensor trajectory through the part.
Keywords liquid composite molding, mold filling, optical fiber sensor, optimal placement, stochastic design.

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