Study on the effect of carbon fiber ply angle on thermal response of CFRP laminate based on the thermal resistance network model

Abstract Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) exhibits different heat transfer phenomena along the fiber direction and the transverse direction during the heat transfer process due to its anisotropic thermo‐physical properties, which makes it difficult to quantitatively analyze the overall thermal performance of CFRP with different ply angles. A thermal resistance network model of composite material considering fiber ply angle and heat transfer direction was developed based on the series–parallel resistance computing method, and it was applied to describe the test results measured by the thermal response tests of unidirectional carbon fiber laminates. Thermal resistance R x along the heat transfer direction and R y transverse to the heat transfer direction calculated by the proposed model, which are related with the thermal response of the specimen, can be utilized to reflect the temperature values and temperature distribution maps. It was found that as the fiber ply angle θ increases from 0° to 45°, thermal resistance in the x ‐axis direction increases from about 0.13 K/W to 2.56 K/W, while thermal resistance in the y ‐axis direction decreases about 48.7%. As a result, major axis of quasi‐ellipse temperature profile changes by about +45° relative to the x ‐axis. Highlights A CFRP thermal resistance network model considering ply angle was proposed. The series–parallel thermal resistance method is used to calculate R x and R y. The ply angle from 0° to 45°, R x increases several times and R y decreases by half. Major axis of elliptic temperature curve changes by +45° relative to the x‐axis.