Abstract
In this article, an investigation of the through-thickness coefficients of hygrothermal expansion for a general class of randomly-oriented composite laminate is presented. A simple random statistical analysis has been used to demonstrate that under certain conditions, for instance, a laminate with 40 plies or more, the mean values of the through-thickness coefficients of hygrothermal expansion in the randomly-oriented laminate are close to those values obtained from the analytical formulation. Also, the influence of the various lamina material properties E 2/E 1, E 3 = E 2, G 12/E 1, v12, v31, V32 as well as the lamina hygrothermal expansion coefficients α1/α2, β1/β2, α2 = α3 and α2 = α3 on the through-thickness coefficients of hygrothermal expansion of the laminate are investigated. The results from this statistical analysis provide a set of general guidelines for designing the through-thickness coefficients of hygrothermal expansion of the composite laminates to fit various environmental conditions in engineering application.
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