Inverse Problems in Resin Transfer Molding

Abstract

The mathematical theory of inverse problems deals with parameter identification in quantitative models. Applied to resin transfer molding, inverse problems are concerned with the determination of permeability, viscosity, porosity, conductivity and flow resistance from experimental or process data. While general inverse problems need sophisticated numerics, our work tries to classify those inverse problems in resin transfer molding where the parameters can be calculated analytically or with very little numerical effort. Formulas for the calculation of pointwise or mean values of constant, piecewise constant or general continuous RTM parameters result. In particular, we show how "smooth" information on RTM parameters can be obtained from pressure and inflow rate data using numerical differentiation and least squares filtering of the data.