Development of a new finite element simulation strategy for prediction of thermal and resin shrinkage deformations of composite parts during cure

In order to achieve first-time-right in production of aircraft parts and to reduce overall costs due to time consuming manual rework, it is necessary to come up with efficient and precise simulation strategies to predict manufacturing induced deformations. These undesired deformations cause deviations from the nominal shape leading to increased scrap rate and difficulties during the assembly process. In composites the spring-back or spring-forward is generally induced by the resin shrinkage and layup's anisotropic thermal properties. In this paper a new finite element simulation strategy for prediction of thermal and resin shrinkage deformations of composite parts during cure is presented. The effect of the layup and the thermal and shrinkage fraction of the spring-back or spring-forward deformation is analytically quantified. The developed approach is applied to a single and double curvature part and numerically validated.