Effects of stacking sequence on the self-curvature of carbon/epoxy composites

Asymmetric laminates could exhibit unique behaviour of bistable response. This allows them to be attractive for applications that require a large deflection with a relatively small input energy. This work focuses on the measurement of the deflection profile of multidirectional carbon/epoxy composites. Four stacking sequences were considered: [0/90], [0/45], [45/0/90] and [45/–45/0/90]. The specimens were scanned using a three-dimensional laser scanner. The deflection data was then extracted at 25 equally spaced locations on the specimens. Next, the location and the magnitude of the maximum and minimum deflection were identified and compared. The findings from this paper provides some preliminary information on the curvature of the multidirectional composite laminates with the effect of number of plies and fibre orientation of the adjacent layers.