The influence of the mould material on the build-up of internal stresses during autoclave cure of carbon fibre composites was investigated using embedded optical fibre Bragg gratings. Unidirectional and cross-ply laminates were cured on four flat moulds: aluminium, steel, carbon composite and carbon foam. From the beginning of cure, the fibres were strained by contact with the expanding mould. The strain increased with the mould thermal expansion and autoclave pressure. As a result, large residual strains were found in the longitudinal direction for the samples cured on aluminium or steel moulds, whereas the samples cured on carbon-based moulds exhibited almost no strain after cooling-down.[All rights reserved Elsevier].
Title
Experimental investigation of the effect of the mould thermal expansion on the development of internal stresses during carbon fibre composite processing
Published in
Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
Volume
39
Issue
7
Pages
1083-90
Date
2008
Note
Lab. de Technol. des Composites et Polymeres (LTC), Ecole Polytech. Fed. de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland Copyright 2008, The Institution of Engineering and Technology 10065423 1359-835X mould thermal expansion effects internal stress development carbon fibre composite processing autoclave curing embedded optical fibre Bragg grating unidirectional laminates cross ply laminates aluminium flat mould steel flat mould carbon composite flat mould carbon foam flat mould autoclave pressure residual strain Al FeCJkJk C CJkJk
Record creation date
2009-01-20
