Modeling the process-induced dimensional variations of general curved composite components and assemblies

Dimensional variations are induced during the processing of composite materials. General curved components are commonly used in composite structures. Their performance is affected by the dimensional variations associated with the manufacturing process. This paper presents a piece-wise approach for predicting the dimensional variations of general curved composite components and assemblies. For a general curved composite component, it is first divided into a number of pieces of simple geometry. For each piece, the dimensional variation, i.e. spring-in, is calculated using the effective coefficients of thermal expansion. Based on the dimensional variation of each piece, the dimensional variations of the general curved component are calculated sequentially. This approach was validated against the finite element analysis. It shows that it offers excellent accuracy while avoiding time-consuming numerical computations. Besides general curved components, this approach can also be applied to composite assemblies. It provides the foundation for the tolerance analysis/synthesis of composites.