An engineering approach to modelling process-induced deformations of double-curved composite elements
Anna Osmęda
Quarterly No. 2, 2015 pages 66-71
DOI:
keywords: deformations, carbon/epoxy composite, finite element method
abstract Since deformations induced in composite elements during curing are a problem well-known to engineers that design composite structures, compensating for them is one of the most interesting issues in the field of composite manufactur-ing. The present work proposes a simple method that allows one to predict process-induced deformations. Development of the method starts with determining and measuring in experiments the factors that contribute to the deformations. These factors are then used in the FEM model to calculate the deformations of a double-curved composite element. The calculated deformations are verified by comparison to the measured deformations of an equivalent sample element. The comparison shows that the model used in the present work enables one to predict 80% of process-induced deformations of a composite double-curved element. Although the accuracy of the prediction is not excellent, the method enables estimation of the deformations and may be used as a base for significant improvement of composite element dimensional accuracy. Taking into account that the computational model used in the method is simple and may be implemented in commonly used FEM software, it appears to be a useful tool for any engineer dealing with composite elements design.