Three-dimensional numerical simulation of residual stress/strain for filament-wound composites during curing process

The variation of residual stress and strain in filament-wound composites with metal liner during curing process was simulated using the finite element analysis software ABAQUS. A FORTRAN subroutine was developed to analyze the residual stress, in which the variation of mechanical parameters of composite and the chemical shrinkage strain during curing process were considered. The simulation results show that at initial stage, the residual stress of composite and metal liner is close to zero. And at a certain time of the curing process, the residual stress rapidly increases to the maximum value, and in the cooling stage, part of the residual stress decreases. In the curing process the metal liner is pressured while the filament-wound layer is stretched. Using the three-dimensional finite element model, the temperature and curing degree distribution of the composite can be obtained at any time of the curing process. The simulation method can be used to optimize the curing temperature cycle and improve the quality of filament-wound composite products.