Bistable characteristics of deployable carbon fiber/bismaleimide resin composite shells in megathermal environments

• Published in: Mechanics of advanced materials and structures Vol. 31; no. 7; pp. 1633 - 1644
• Main Authors: Zhang, Zheng, Xiong, Libin, Sun, Min, Zhang, Guang, Ding, Hao, Wu, Huaping, Jiang, Shaofei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 02.04.2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: bismaleimide; Bismaleimides; bistable shell; Carbon fiber reinforced plastics; Composite structures; elevated temperature; Epoxy resins; finite element analysis; Finite element method; Glass transition temperature; High temperature; High-temperature resistant; Morphing; Shells (structural forms)
• ISSN: 1537-6494; 1537-6532
• DOI: 10.1080/15376494.2022.2140460

A novel high-temperature resistant carbon fiber/bismaleimide resin composite shell is proposed and its bistable characteristics are studied in megathermal environment. Bistable structures are prepared with epoxy resin composites conventionally, which prone to undergone glass transition at high temperature. The study of high-temperature resistant bistable structure become necessary to suit aerospace field. In this work, the effect of elevated temperatures and different ply angles were investigated on curvatures and snap behaviors of carbon fiber/bismaleimide resin composite bistable shells through experiment and finite element analysis. These results provided significant understanding of morphing behaviors for the carbon fiber/bismaleimide bistable structure in megathermal environment. A novel high-temperature resistant carbon fiber/bismaleimide resin composite shell is proposed and its bistable characteristics in megathermal environment are studied in this paper. Bistable structures are prepared with epoxy resin composites conventionally, which prone to undergone glass transition at high temperature. The study of high-temperature resistant composite bistable structure become necessary to suit the actual working conditions. In this work, the anti-symmetric bistable shells with different ply angles (40°, 45°, 50°) are fabricated using T700/QY8911 prepreg. The effect of elevated temperatures and different ply angles were investigated on the principal curvatures and twisting curvatures of carbon fiber/bismaleimide resin composite bistable shells through experiment and finite element analysis. The snap behaviors of the bistable shells with different ply angles at different temperatures were obtained. Furthermore, a novel two-point tensile loading method was applied to the snap-back processes of carbon fiber/bismaleimide resin composite bistable shells with the subtended angles greater than 180°. It is noticed that the bistable shells have better high-temperature stability than carbon fiber/epoxy bistable shells. These results provided significant understanding of morphing behaviors for the carbon fiber/bismaleimide bistable structure in megathermal environment.