A multi-scale study of residual stresses created during the cure process of a composite tooling material

摘要

This paper deals with the cure of an in-plane isotropic carbon-polymer tooling material, with a complex microstructure [1]. The Mori-Tanaka (MT) and Eshelby-Kroner self-consistent (EKSC) models are used in order to achieve a two-steps scale transition procedure, relating the microscopic properties of the material to their macroscopic counterparts. This procedure enables estimating the multi-scale mechanical states experienced by the material, i.e. the local (microscopic) stresses due to thermal and chemical shrinkage of the resin, along a typical, macroscopic stress-free, cure process. The influence of the chosen scale transition model on both the calculated effective properties of the material and its local stress states, is investigated. These results are a first step for investigating the service life fatigue of the material, as well as its failure behaviour.