Mechanical response of linear viscoelastic composite laminates incorporating non-isothermal physical aging effects

Abstract This paper presents a method of predicting the mechanical response of composite laminates including the effects of linear viscoelasticity and physical aging. Effective-time theory has been used to characterize the physical aging behavior of each linear viscoelastic lamina. In accordance with experimental findings, the aging behavior of each lamina is allowed to differ in the shear and transverse directions. The mechanical loading is restricted to the linear range, which decouples the aging and load behavior. A recursive algorithm has been used to solve the hereditary convolution integral that governs the response of each ply. Classical thin-laminate theory is then used to assemble the individual ply response equations and determine the overall laminate response to general in-plane force and moment loading. The method automatically recovers the ply-level stresses and strains, which are often critical to strength and durability predictions. The model can use either lamina compliance or modulus properties as its basis. Several illustrative examples of long-term laminate response to variable loading are presented and the impact of physical aging is explored. It is shown that for multidirectional laminates, the stiffness of the lamina in the fiber directions can allow simplifications of the model.