An incremental linear elastic constitutive equation was used to calcul
ate the residual stresses generated in polymer systems, with emphasis
on thermosetting systems which are curing under dimensionally constrai
ned conditions. The equations necessary to calculate the stress due to
cure, shrinkage due to cure, thermal stress, glass transition tempera
ture and thermal expansion coefficient as functions of the polymerizat
ion history are derived. Residual stress data are presented for an epo
xy cured under conditions of uniaxial (one-dimensional) and volumetric
(three-dimensional) constraint. It was found that for anhydridecured
epoxies the unaxial stresses due to cure are small, especially in comp
arison to the residual uniaxial thermal stress. For conditions of volu
metric constraint it was found that both cure stresses and thermal str
esses are large in amine-cured epoxy resins.