Semianalytical models to predict the crystallization kinetics of thermoplastic fibrous composites

The growing interest for continuous fiber‐reinforced polymer composites leads to the development of new processes such as resin transfer molding for thermoplastics (RTM‐TP) or tape placement. In the aim of optimization, their simulations are required and have to include all involved physical phenomena and the associated couplings. During the consolidation step, the crystallization of the semicrystalline matrix occurs between the fibers of the multiscale reinforcement. A tricky task is to provide a realistic model able to describe the crystallization kinetics, which includes the effect of fibers on the polymer phase change and avoiding large computation time. In 2004, Haudin and Chenot proposed a generalization of the Avrami model, written in a differential form to compute the evolution of the crystallization of a neat thermoplastic in an infinite volume. In the present article, new extensions are proposed to predict the crystallization in long‐fiber thermoplastic composites, without or in the presence of transcrystallinity on fiber surfaces. In both cases, they are compared to three‐dimensional numerical simulations using a previously validated numerical method. All the numerical and analytical results are consistent. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44508.