NEW METHOD FOR RTM GATE OPTIMIZATION

In the RTM process, gate/vent location is one of the most important variables in RTM mold design. The paper proposed an approach to optimize the gate locations. To minimize the maximum distance between gates and vent and treat the trapping volume as penalty, the optimization was conducted. Genetic algorithm (GA) was employed to carry out the optimization procedure to find the optimal gate and vent location. Numerical testing was performed with different shape molds. The case studies showed that the processing performance index is suitable, and the results illustrated that the proposed approach is efficient and effective.