Thermoelastic Expansion of Graphite-Epoxy Unidirectional and Angle-Ply Composites Available to Purchase

An experimental investigation of the thermal expansion of a unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite material is described herein. The basic material used in the tests was a prepreg graphite-epoxy tape, designated as Modmor-II, supplied by NARMCO. Unidirectional and angel-ply laminates were made from the prepreg tape and were tested for their linear thermal expansion in the temperature range between 25 and 150 °C (77 and 302 °F). The experimental results compared reasonably well with the predicted values of the thermal expansion coefficients calculated based on several existing linear elastic micromechanics theories and lamination theories.