Thermal analysis of thermoplastic composites during processing

Abstract Unsteady two‐dimensional thermal analysis has been performed on PEEK/AS‐4 fiber thermoplastic composites. To calculate the crystallinity of the composite, a spherulite growth model was applied. A numerical analysis was carried out with variations in mold cooling rate, the prepreg lay‐up, and the composite geometry. The effect of geometry and the cooling rate is significant in the temperature profiles. The degree of crystallinity varies with the cooling rate, but the gradient of crystallinity is small, with the exception of complex geometries at fast cooling rates. The results of numerical calculations are in excellent agreement with the experiments and offer validation of the numerical formulation.