An inverse method for curing process-induced eigenstrain reconstruction of laminated composites

Accurate acquisition of the curing process-induced eigenstrain distribution is vital for predicting residual stress of laminated composites. In this work we develop a novel inverse method for full-field PIE reconstruction of laminated composites. We design standard laminates to obtain the PIE of unidirectional and woven lamina which are key ingredients of full-field PIE. Then an inverse model is established to accurately calculate lamina’s PIE from the measured residual middle-plane strain and curvature of standard laminates. Full-field PIE of validation laminates are then reconstructed by the obtained lamina’s PIE. Experimental results are in good agreement with the reconstructed results, verifying the accuracy and effectiveness of our proposed method. Finally, we implement the inverse method in accurately reconstructing full-field PIE of a hybrid laminated composite I-beam. We also observe that the PIE is process dependent, indicating that PIE can be used to evaluate the effect of curing process on residual stress.