Constitutive modelling of carbon fiber-reinforced shape memory polymer composites

Abstract

Shape memory polymer (SMP) is one of smart polymers which exhibit shape memory effect upon external stimuli such as heat, moisture, electricity etc. To overcome low mechanical properties of SMP, a woven carbon fiber-reinforced shape memory polymer composite (SMPC) has been proposed. However, the prediction of the mechanical behavior of woven carbon fiber-reinforced SMPC is not routine due to anisotropy and multidimensional deformation during bending or unfolding. In this study, a 3D constitutive model of woven carbon fiber reinforced SMPC was developed based on phenomenological three elements in parallel; rubbery and glassy phases and anisotropic fiber part. To treat the anisotropic behavior of woven fabric reinforcement such as high stiffness with slight nonlinearity in the warp and weft directions and nonlinear shear behavior, an anisotropic hyperplastic constitutive model was used that decompose total strain energy into warp and weft stretching and fabric shearing energies. Finally, 3D constitutive equation was obtained by summing the stresses resulting from rubbery and glassy phases and fiber part considering interface effect between matrix and fiber. The developed equation was implemented into COMSOL software. Finally, shape memory bending and anisotropic behavior of woven carbon fiber-reinforced SMPCs was simulated.