Learning Forum

[JRK]

I am working on a project which involves simulating the curing of a photosensitive resin exposed to UV light via the chemical reaction process of photopolymerization. I haven't been able to find much about this specific topic online. 

 

Could you please advise if it is even possible (with current capabilities) to carry out this simulation on Ansys Fluent? If so, how would I go about doing this? What models would I need to turn on and where would I apply the curing rate function (which is a function of light intensity, activation energy, temperature, etc.)?

 

Would it involve using UDFs? If so, how would I go about setting up the UDF for this case?

 

It would be of great help if someone could provide guidance or even just some resources about this topic (As I said before, I really haven't been able to find much about this specific topic online). Please advise. Thank you so much.

[Rob]

It's mostly possible, very difficult and we don't have any examples. I've been writing up some options, but that'll be on the Customer Portal as opposed to public side for the short term, once I get enough time to finish it off. 

Simple answer, you'll need UDFs and a lot of thinking. Polyflow is something else to review, but I can't help there as I've not got around to learning it yet (I've been working with colleagues on it for 20 years or so). 

[JRK]

Thank you so much for your prompt response and guidance, Rob! I will start looking into Polyflow as per your advice.

I am a mechanical engineering student at UCF; so would I be able to access your post regarding this topic on the customer portal if I could obtain an academic license from the professor I am working with (so that I can register and create an account to view posts on the customer portal)?

Honestly, I would really appreciate any help in this regard. So I think learning about any of the options you have come up with/are working on would help me and would provide me with some much-needed direction.

Please advise. Thank you so much again.

[Rob]

The Customer Portal gives you access to Solutions, but some of those should be under Learning somewhere: I've spent several hours over the last couple of months checking they're OK for "public" use. 

The solution I'm writing on foams won't really help with the "how" at present as I'm not sure what the best option is. It's more things to think about!