A Machine Learning Strategy for Race-Tracking Detection During Manufacturing of Composites by Liquid Moulding

Abstract This work presents a supervised machine learning (ML) model to detect race-tracking disturbances during the liquid moulding manufacturing of structural composites. Race-tracking is generated by unexpected resin channels at mould edges that may induce dry spots and porosity formation. The ML model uses the pressure signals recorded by a sensor network as input, providing a classification of the race-tracking event from a set of possible scenarios, and a subsequent variable regression for their position, size and strength. Such a model is based on the residual network (ResNet), a well-known artificial intelligence architecture that makes use of convolutional neural networks for image recognition. Training of the ML classifier and regressors was carried out with the aid of a synthetically generated simulation data set obtained throughout computational fluid dynamics simulations. The time evolution of the pressure sensors was used as grey-level images, or footprints, as inputs to the ResNet ML. The trained model was able to recognise the presence of race-tracking channels from the pressure data yielding good accuracy in terms of label prediction as well as position, size and strength. The model correlation was carried out with a set of injection experiments performed with a constant thickness closed mould containing induced race-tracking channels. The ability of ML models to provide an approximation to the inverse problem, relating the pressure sensor distortions to the cause of such events, is analysed and discussed.