Thermal stress induced damage in a thermoplastic matrix material for advanced composites

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we analyze the basic physics of residual stress development during cooling of thermoplastic composite matrix materials. The analytical model presented here examines development of the stress field during cooling off a cylinder of thermoplastic matrix material. The residual stress field predicted by the model is compared to observations of the differences in microstructure of polymeric materials with different processing histories. The results of the investigation indicate that changes in the matrix related to processing conditions can contribute to damage formation in composites.