Fiber reinforced composites are increasingly being used in the aerospace and automotive industry to cope with lightweighting challenges and meet high performance standards. The manufacturing processes are essential for the quality of the final composite. Simulation of composite manufacturing processes requires experimental analysis and modelling of the transformations involved. These simulations can prevent a time consuming and expensive "trial and error" process design. During the process, the phenomena concern fibrous materials in large deformation and the flow of resin into the fibrous reinforcement. They depend on heat transfer and sometimes phase change. Experimental analysis, modelling and simulation of physical phenomena during composites forming are the objectives of the course. It will concern in particular composite materials for structural parts. The analysis of forming of the reinforcement without resin (dry preform) and with non-hardened resin (prepreg) will be considered as well as thermomechanics and consolidation of the composite during prepreg forming and flow processes in composite materials. This course is aimed at Ph.D. students and Master students in the field of composite engineering. Researchers interested in composite forming are also welcome to attend this course.

The main points to be covered in this course are as follows:

1. Draping of fibrous preforms and prepregs.
Forming of continuous fiber reinforcements leads to specific mechanical problems because of the relative slippage between the fibers and the quasi-inextensibility of the fibers. The following topics are included in this theme:
• Mechanical tests for fibrousreinforcements (shear, biaxial tension, bending, transverse compaction).
• Constitutive law for textile reinforcements (Hyper elasticity, hyper viscoelasticity...)
• Simulations of preform deformation at macro, meso and microscale.
• Specific finite elements, locking of textile materials
• Full field strain measurements (DIC) and Micro CT analyses of internal geometry
• Beyond the classical Cauchy approach. Generalized continuum mechanics.

2. Liquid composite moulding One of the most efficient composite manufacturing method is to impregnate the fiber reinforcement (the preform) by liquid flow of matrix material.
Analysis and simulation of this flow within the fibrous preform constitutes a broad scientific field necessary for modeling of composite manufacturing processes.
• Permeability (measure and virtual)
• Multi-scale flow models
• Saturation
• Investigation by X-ray CT
• Simulation techniques: FE- Control Volume, FE-Level Set, Pure FE

3. Thermo mechanics, Thermo kinetics and Couplings Composite forming processes are carried out at high temperature and the coupling between mechanical and thermal behavior is important. Consolidation and crystallization of the resin are also coupled with the forming deformation
• Multi-scale and multi-physical models and algorithms
• Curing, crystallization, polymerization
• Residual stresses
• Coupling algorithmic