Evolution Behaviors and Reduction Mechanism of Curing Residual Stresses in GLARE Laminates under a Hot-Pressing Condition

Nowadays, variable preparation, forming and processing methods of fiber metal laminates are constantly developing to meet the requirements of different application fields, hence the characteristics and evolution of residual stresses under different manufacturing conditions deserve more attention. In this work, the evolution behaviors of curing residual stresses in GLARE under a hot-pressing condition were studied, and the residual stress reduction mechanism was also explained. Results suggested the FE prediction models of the entire cure process, verified by the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, were more precise than the traditional elastic model. Moreover, the stress evolution during the cure process mainly occurred in the cooling stage, in which the different coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of aluminum and GFRP played a major role. Meanwhile, curing shrinkage stress in the GFRP layer during the holding stage at curing temperature obviously influenced the final stress level. The residual stresses in GFRP layers differed by 9.6 MPa under a hot-pressing and autoclave condition, in which the convection heat transfer condition played a major role as it caused lower thermal stress in the holding stage and a smaller temperature gradient in the cooling stage. Considering this, a lower cooling rate could be a feasible way to obtain GLARE with lower residual stress under a hot-pressing condition.