Bistable behaviour and microstructure characterization of carbon fiber/epoxy resin anti-symmetric laminated cylindrical shell after thermal exposure

Bistable behaviour and microstructure characterization of carbon fiber/epoxy resin anti-symmetric cylindrical shells after thermal exposure are investigated by experimental method in this paper. The effect of thermal exposure temperature and duration on the curvatures, load-displacement curves and snap loads of bistable shells are discussed systematically. The results show that both the thermal exposure temperature and duration have a significant influence on the bistable behaviour of those antisymmetric laminated cylindrical shells. Some interesting phenomena after high-temperature exposure are found in snap-through and snap-back processes. The microstructure of the shell before and after thermal exposure is characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), which provide an insight into bistable deformation mechanism of those shells after being exposed to elevated temperature.