Effect of laminate construction on residual stresses in composites

The effects of ply stacking sequence and ply orientation on the magnitude of lamination residual stresses in graphite/polyimide angle-ply laminates was studied. Embedded strain gage techniques were used to measure thermal strains in laminates of different layup, and residual strains were determined by comparing thermal strains in the angle-ply laminates with those of a unidirectional laminate. The ply stacking sequence did not have an effect on the magnitude of residual strains.