Process-induced stress and deformation in thick-section thermosetting composites

Thesis/Dissertation · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:6299430

Bogetti, T A

The cure and process-induced stress and deformation development in thick-section thermosetting composites is presented. A two-dimensional anisotropic cure simulation analysis is developed to predict temperature and degree of cure distributions within arbitrary cross-sectional geometries as a function of the autoclave temperature history. Correlation between experimentally measured and predicted through-the-thickness temperature profiles in glass/polyester laminates are presented for various arbitrary temperature cure cycle histories. Several typical glass/polyester and graphite/epoxy structural elements of arbitrary cross-section are analyzed. Spatial gradients in degree of cure are shown to be strongly dependent on part geometry, thermal anisotropy, cure kinetics, and the autoclave temperature cure cycle. The cure simulation analysis is coupled to an incremental laminated plate theory model and a quasi-three-dimensional finite element analysis to study the complex relationships between gradients in temperature and degree of cure and process-induced stress and deformation unique to thick sections. Material models are developed to describe composite behavior during cure. Thermal expansion and cure shrinkage contribute to changes in material specific volume and represent important sources of internal loading included in the analysis. The effects of the autoclave temperature cure cycle, laminate thickness, resin shrinkage and laminate stacking sequence on the evolution of processing-induced stress and deformation are presented. Significant macroscopic stresses are shown to develop during the curing process of thick-section laminates. The results presented demonstrate that the mechanics and performance of thick-section thermosets are strongly dependent on processing history.

• Research Organization: Delaware Univ., Newark, DE (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6299430
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360601* -- Other Materials-- Preparation & Manufacture
CARBON
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CURING
DEFORMATION
ELEMENTAL MINERALS
ELEMENTS
EPOXIDES
EXPANSION
FIBERGLASS
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
GRAPHITE
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MINERALS
NONMETALS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
POLYMERS
REINFORCED MATERIALS
SIMULATION
STRESS ANALYSIS
THERMAL EXPANSION