Simulation of composites curing using mechanics of structure genome based shell model

Abstract

An efficient shell model based on mechanics of structure genome (MSG) is introduced to predict the manufacturing induced residual stress and deformation for composite laminates. This model utilizes shell elements in commercial finite element software to represent the composite laminate, which greatly reduces the computational cost compared with a direct numerical simulation (DNS) using 3D solid elements. In this study, a line through the thickness of the composite laminate is chosen to be the structure gene, separating the original 3D analysis into a 1D through-the-thickness analysis and a 2D shell analysis. Constitutive relations for the shell elements, considering the effect of residual stress and strain, are constructed. The tool is modeled using 3D elements with a relative coarse mesh and a contact interaction is applied between the tool and composite part, as commonly done in a DNS. Several case studies are presented with comparison between DNS. Results shows that the MSG-based shell theory can predict the spring-in and residual stress caused by non-mechanical loading during curing. However, due to the limitation of existing shell elements in Abaqus, disagreement is observed when considering the deformation caused by the change of transverse shear stiffness.