Prediction of Thermal Strains in Fibre Reinforced Plastic Matrix by Discretisation of the Temperature Exposure History: An Advanced Study

Abstract

Prediction of environmental effects on fibre reinforced plastics habitually is made difficult due to the complex variability of the natural service environment. This paper suggests a method to predict thermal strain distribution over the material lifetime by discretisation of the exposure history. Laboratory results show a high correlation between predicted and experimentally measured strain distribution. It is shown that thermal strains due to variable environmental temperature can be predicted by discretization of the exposure history.