Effect of Thermal Stresses on the Failure Criteria of Fiber Composites

When composite laminates are operated at cryogenic temperatures, thermal stresses arise. This is due to the difference in coefficients of thermal expansion of different plies and also between the fiber and matrix. While the former is taken into account in the composite structural analysis, the latter, called micro-thermal stresses, has not been given much attention. In this paper the Direct Micromechanics Method is used to investigate the effects of micro-thermal stresses on the failure envelope of composites. Using FEA the unit-cell of the composite is analyzed. Assuming the failure criteria for the fiber and matrix are known, the exact failure envelope is developed. Using the micromechanics results, the Tsai-Wu failure envelope is modified to account for the micro-thermal stresses. The approach is demonstrated using two example structures at cryogenic temperature.