Prediction of shape distortions. Part II. Experimental validation and analysis of boundary conditions

During cure of thermoset composite structures residual stresses and/or shape distortions are always present. Residual stresses can cause apparent strength reduction or failure, even prior demoulding, respectively, shape distortions can deform a component so that the component becomes useless. For this reason a lot of effort has been spent to develop simulation tools to be able to foresee problems related to residual stresses and/or shape distortions and make the first part right. In a companion paper a process model for shape distortion predictions was developed and implemented into ABAQUS. In the present paper the model is validated for a material and cure schedule typical for RTM and autoclave processes. Comparisons between predicted and experimental shape distortion shows that the model and simulation approach used capture both effects from different cure schedules as well as the mechanical interaction between composite and tooling during in-mould cure. The results show that changing the mechanical boundary conditions significantly affects the shape distortion prediction. Therefore accurate modelling of the composite–tooling interaction is an important part of a shape distortion analysis.