Evolution of chemical and thermal curvatures in thermoset-laminated composite plates during the fabrication process

Abstract

Residual deformations and stresses formation in the thermoset-laminated composite is a frequently studied subject in the recent years. During fabrication, the laminated composites undergo chemical deformation during cross-linking and thermal deformation while cooling. In thin laminates, due to large displacements and complex evolution of shape, these deformations can only be explained by using nonlinear strain–displacement relationship. In the present article, we calculated together for the first time, the thermal and chemical deformations occurring in carbon/epoxy laminates by considering a nonlinear geometrical approach to understand the evolution of shape and hence residual stresses induced during fabrication process. The effect of fibre fraction on the chemical and thermal deformations is studied as well.