Kordsa, a leader in tire, construction, reinforcement and composites technologies, has testes process induced residual stresses in manufacturing thermosetting polymers. Residual stresses should be taken into consideration in both the design and manufacturing process in order to meet the requirements of dimensional accuracy and good mechanical performance.

Kordsa Composites Technologies project leader, Fatih Ertugrul Öz, recently spoke about the distorting effects in the manufacture of thermosetting polymer composites. Fibre-reinforced composite materials have been increasingly used in various structural components in the aerospace and automotive industries. This increased usage requires a detailed understanding of the process-induced residual stresses. Residual stresses are the stresses that remain in a material or structure after the source of these stresses has been removed. The non-uniform distribution of residual stresses results in deformation, matrix cracking, and even delamination, according to a press release by Kordsa.

The article in the Reinforcer Magazine by Ertugrul Öz presents process-induced residual stresses and their distorting effects in the manufacture of thermosetting polymer composites and shows the effect of the different properties of constituents.