Thermomechanical analysis of composite plates curing process using ANSYS composite cure simulation

Abstract

Process-induced dimensional changes in composite parts has been of great interest for many researchers. The induced residual stresses during curing process while the laminate is in contact with the process tool often lead to shape deformation. This paper focuses on predicting these dimensional changes using software simulation of curing process. Various factors including resin shrinkage, degree of cure, different directional coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the composite laminate are simultaneously taken into the consideration. A cure kinetic model has been employed by the software which illustrates the matrix behavior during cure. The results obtained by ANSYS Composite Cure Simulation (ACCS) were then compared with the previous experimental values of spring-in. The accuracy of ACCS package also was validated in this study. With the support of this validated simulation, users are able to reduce the error of spring-in prediction from 15% of analytical calculation to almost 4% of numerical computation in respect to actual manufacturing.