Residual Stress in Fiber Reinforced Thermosetting Composites: A Review of Measurement Techniques

Abstract

Residual stress is inherent in any fiber reinforced composite, created by the laminates processing route and high levels of anisotropy. The aim of this article is to provide an up to date review of the current state of the art in experimental techniques for the determination of residual stress in thermosetting fiber reinforced composites. Residual stress is considered at a micro‐mechanical, macro‐mechanical, and global scale as each require specific techniques to investigate and offer their own unique challenges to the designer. Many advances have been made in the experimental determination of residual stress in fiber reinforced composites since the last comprehensive review of the topic by Shokrieh in 2014. However, more work still needs to be done to develop a method that is applicable to all cases and can be applied as a universal standard. It remains a significant challenge to experimentally determine residual stress in thermosetting composites.