THERMAL-EXPANSION COEFFICIENTS OF PLAIN-WEAVE FABRIC LAMINATES

An analytical method is presented for the prediction of the on-axis linear thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of a two-dimensional, orthogonal plain-weave fabric laminate. The studies were carried out for three idealised laminate configurations. The possible shifts of layers with respect to each other along the x, y and z directions were considered for the laminates. The predicted TEC values were compared with experimental results which validate the analytical predictions. The effect of fabric geometry on the plain-weave fabric laminate TEC was investigated and, for comparison, the effect of fabric geometry on the elastic properties of plain-weave fabric laminates is also presented. It was observed that there is a significant effect of fabric geometrical parameters on the thermo-elastic behaviour of woven-fabric laminates. The woven-fabric laminate TEC values are compared with those for unidirectionally reinforced crossply laminates