Abstract
The use of composite materials for structural members has been restricted by the lack of data on the use of these composites, by the inherent brittleness of many of these materials, and by the expensive manufacturing methods associated with their fabri cation. This study examines a new process to postform a constant cross section structural section (I-beam) from a straight section to a bent or contoured section. The structural pieces were tested for stiffness and compared with finite element analysis to determine the net change, if any, due to the bending. Statistical analysis of these results indicated that the bending procedure had little or no significant effect on the stiffness of the samples. This process may, therefore, result in a method of using preformed, standard shaped composite structural members and postforming those members for specific applications.