Experimental study of thermal expansion of layered carbon-reinforced plastics

Conclusion

The nonlinear dependence of the thermal deformations on the temperature for a wide class of layered carbon-reinforced plastics was experimentally demonstrated and the use of the thermal expansion function of the material instead of the corresponding characteristic: the thermal expansion coefficient, was substantiated in the present study. A method for determining the parameters of the thermal expansion functions was developed in consideration of their nonlinear dependence on the temperature and the numerical values were reported for layered carbon-reinforced plastics of two types with typical reinforcement schemes. In addition, the significant dependence of the thermal expansion functions on the geometry of the structure of the carbon-reinforced plastics was observed, and the major possibility of optimum planning of the structure of the material from considerations of geometric stability was demonstrated. The study of thermal deformations of reinforced plastics in consideration of their random character is promising as a result of the significant variance of the experimental data.