Influence of degree of cure and cure shrinkage on the finial deformation of the unsymmetric composite laminates

The deformation of the composite unsymmetric laminates subjected to the thermal and chemical volumetric shrinkage load was investigated by the three dimensional finite element methods during the curing process. The material mechanical properties and chemical volumetric shrinkage were expressed as the function of the temperature as well as the degree of cure. The relationship between the laminate curvature and the temperature and degree of cure was studied. The results of the numerical simulation show that the laminates curvature was closely related to the degree of cure at the moment when the cure process terminated; most of the process-induced deformation was generated in the cooling stage; the chemical volumetric shrinkage has slight influence on the laminate deformation and it mainly occurs at the first half of the second temperature dwelling.