The bistable behaviors of carbon-fiber/epoxy anti-symmetric composite shells

Bistability of cross-ply [0n°/90n°] laminates has already been examined in detail by researchers. Another kind of bistable composite shell manufactured from carbon-fiber/epoxy prepreg with anti-symmetric layup, such as [30°/−30°/0°/30°/−30°], is investigated in this paper using analytical, experimental and numerical methods. A new experimental method named two points loading method is presented to capture the bistable behavior of the manufactured specimens. The coiled-up radius and the snap loads, including snap-through and snap-back load used to induce the bistable composite shell to snap between two stable shapes are measured. The factors affecting the bistable performance of the anti-symmetric composite shell, including structure sizes and layup conditions, are discussed by comparing experimental test results and analytical solutions. Good agreement was found between analytical predictions and measured results. The finite element results are approximately in accord with experimental results. Possible reasons of differences between numerical simulation and experimental results are given.