Virtual Modeling of The Curing Process of Composite Aerospace Components Using Coupled Multiphysics Models

This work presents a multifield simulation approach using a higher-order one-dimensional model derived within the Carrera Unified Formulation framework to assess the impact of curing on the composite part's performance. The proposed approach enables coupled thermochemo-mechanical simulation and the simultaneous evaluation of temperature, degree of cure, process-induced deformations, and residual stresses in time and space. The advantage of this model is that it can generate a three-dimensional representation of the part while keeping computational cost low. Typical composite configurations in the aeronautical field, such as sandwich and stiffened structures, are analyzed. The results demonstrate the capability of the present numerical tool to simulate the behavior of the composite part during the process.