The prediction of the long-term mechanical behaviour of aeronautical laminates

Short-duration creep/creep-recovery tests have shown that the deformation o f the selected CFRP composite material consists of a recoverable, delayed p art and an irrecoverable part, it is therefore represented by a non-linear viscoelastic and viscoplastic model for each elementary ply. An identificat ion procedure is described, which relies on the results of the above tests. The validation first involves similar tests for longer durations, then oth er lay-ups, and finally cyclic tests. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.