Residual Stresses in Carbon Fibre-Thermoplastic Matrix Laminates

Abstract

Residual stresses in composite laminates depend on thermoelastic properties of the material and processing temperatures. Their distribution in the various laminae is a func tion of stacking sequence and ply orientation. In this work residual stresses in APC-2 cross-ply laminates have been investigated. Predictions based on classical laminate theory are compared to measured levels of residual stress obtained from a number of experimen tal techniques. The analysis of the results shows that accurate predictions can be made pro vided that the changes in thermoelastic properties of the materials with temperature are taken into account.