Analysis of spring-in in U-shaped composite laminates: Numerical and experimental results

The phenomena that happen during the cure process of a composite material laminate are responsible for the rise of residual stresses and, consequently, for the deformation at the end of the manufacturing process. The most analyzed deformation is the spring-in, that represent the flange-to-flange angle deviance from the theoretical value. In this work, the influence of some parameters, such as the laminate thickness, the stacking sequence and the mold radius, on the spring-in angle of a U-shaped laminate was studied exploring a full factorial plan through numerical simulations. First of all, a numerical model proper for cure simulation was introduced and its suitability to simulate the deformation behavior was demonstrated. As a result, only the stacking sequence influenced the spring-in value, while the effect of the tool radius and laminate thickness was minimal.