Simulation and measurement of the self-heating phenomenon of carbon/epoxy laminated composites under fatigue loading

In the present research, the self-heating phenomenon in laminated composites under fatigue loading was studied. The generated-dissipated energy (GDE) model was developed to calculate the generated energy due to the viscoelastic nature of the matrix, and the dissipated energy through the convection and conduction mechanisms. To consider the effects of irreversible fatigue failure modes in laminated composites, the GDE model was coupled with the progressive fatigue damage (PFD) model. By coupling these two models, the self-heating (S-H) model was developed to simulate the self-heating temperature rise in laminated composites under fatigue loadings. An experimental program was conducted to validate the present model. The temperature at the surface of laminated composites was monitored by an infrared thermography camera during the fatigue tests. The experimental results show that the present model can precisely predict the self-heating temperature rise in composite specimens with an arbitrary stacking sequence under fatigue loading conditions.