Material Properties for Quantitative Thermoelastic Stress Analysis of Composite Structures

The sensitivity of the thermoelastic response to variations in the fibre volume fraction, resin material and manufacturing route is assessed. To quantify any effects a comprehensive materials testing programme has been conducted to obtain coefficients of thermal expansion, specific heat, density and the elastic properties, which is described in detail in the paper. The work is focused on attempting to ascertain if the source of the response is from the isotropic resin rich layer or from the orthotropic substrate. It is also demonstrated that small variations in material properties can have a significant effect on the calculated thermoelastic response.