Manufacturing Simulation of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composites for Evaluation of Residual Stress and Strains

In this research, we propose a computational method to predict the residual stresses and strains of carbon fiber composite by considering the curing kinetics, chemical shrinkage, and thermal expansion. During the curing process of the composites manufacturing, the chemical shrinkage, thermal expansion, and resin viscoelastic behavior lead the residual strains and stresses. Predicting the residual stresses and strains is important to evaluate the deformation and mechanical properties of composite materials. However, this is expensive and time-consuming. On the other hand, the computational method can be used to replace the actual experiments and save costs. In this work, material curing kinetics are computed according to a given cure cycle temperature profile. After computing the degree of cure, the mechanical properties of the composite material are estimated. From the given values, the stress of the composites is evaluated with stress-strain relation. The distortion predicted by the proposed computational model is then verified with the experimental model manufactured with RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) equipment.