Abstract
Hot drape forming of continuous fibre reinforced thermosetting composites is a process that is currently under development in the aerospace industry. Previous research work in continuous fibre reinforced sheet forming has focussed on the use of thermoplastic matrix composites, for which specialised finite element analysis codes and material characterisation experiments have been developed. This paper applies these characterisation techniques and numerical simulation methods for the first time to thermoset matrix composites. A picture-frame shearing test is employed to characterise the intraply shearing viscosity of a 2x2 twill carbon fibre reinforced epoxy prepreg. A transversely isotropic power-law material model is used to characterise the material, with an Arrhenius law to represent the viscosity variation with temperature. Finally, the intraply shearing viscosity law is incorporated, along with other material parameters, in a commercial finite element simulation of the hot drape forming process. A Linear Variable Differential Transformer is used to measure the displacement of a point in a structure during the forming process, and the result is compared to the output of the finite element code.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Flow Processes in Composite Materials, Plymouth, UK, July 1999 |
| Publisher | University of Plymouth |
| Pages | 11-23 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| ISBN (Print) | 1870918010 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 1999 |
| Event | Fifth International Conference on Flow Processes in Composite materials - Plymouth, United Kingdom Duration: 12 Jul 1999 → 14 Jul 1999 |
Conference
| Conference | Fifth International Conference on Flow Processes in Composite materials |
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| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | Plymouth |
| Period | 12/07/99 → 14/07/99 |