Micromechanics analysis of space simulated thermal deformations and stresses in continuous fiber reinforced composites

Technical Report · Thu Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:7023185

Bowles, D E

Space simulated thermally induced deformations and stresses in continuous fiber reinforced composites were investigated with a micromechanics analysis. The investigation focused on two primary areas. First, available explicit expressions for predicting the effective coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) for a composite were compared with each other, and with a finite element (FE) analysis, developed specifically for this study. Analytical comparisons were made for a wide range of fiber/matrix systems, and predicted values were compared with experimental data. The second area of investigation focused on the determination of thermally induced stress fields in the individual constituents. Stresses predicted from the FE analysis were compared to those predicted from a closed-form solution to the composite cylinder (CC) model, for two carbon fiber/epoxy composites. A global-local formulation, combining laminated plate theory and FE analysis, was used to determine the stresses in multidirectional laminates. Thermally induced damage initiation predictions were also made.

• Research Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hampton, VA (USA). Langley Research Center
• OSTI ID: 7023185
• Report Number(s): N-90-21140; NASA-TM--102633; NAS--1.15:102633
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360603* -- Materials-- Properties
CARBON FIBERS
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
CRACK PROPAGATION
DEFORMATION
EPOXIDES
FIBERS
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
LAMELLAE
MATERIALS
MATRIX MATERIALS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLATES
STRESS ANALYSIS
STRESSES
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
THERMAL STRESSES