Experimental and numerical study of the evolution of deformation in an epoxy composite circular plate during non-uniform cooling

Experimental time dependences of bending of flat epoxy resin cylindrical specimens during cooling in water have been obtained. A step-by-step algorithm for numerical solution of the boundary problem by finite-element procedure using ANSYS program is presented. Explanation of observed effects is given taking into account the peculiarities of the constitutive equations used. The validity of the previously proposed model describing the thermomechanical behavior of vitrifying polymers and the numerical technique for solving boundary-value problems have been verified for the given class of materials.