Investigation of Thermal Residual Stresses Due to Curing Process of Fiber-Reinforced Composites by Finite Element Analysis

In this paper, a new finite element model has been presented to study the thermal residual stresses due to curing process of fiber-reinforced composites. The inhohmogeneous interphase between the fiber and the surronded resin is considered. To verify the finite element model, results are compared with theoretical results available in the literature. The appropriate boundary conditions of the proposed model are studided in detail. A typical and practical curing cycle is applied to the verified model. The thermal residual stresses generated due to curing process are presented and the effect of these stresses in the vicinity region of interphase is studied.