Hello everybody, I have recently entered in the world of composites so I still have too

many questions without answer...

I have designed a part with a balanced and simmetric laminate with 4 cuatriaxial woven
fabric plies(so 1 plies of !"4#$4#"%!&'. (he part will be made by hand lay"up. (he
manufacturer tells me that he needs an extra ply of chopped strand mat as the first ply in
contact with the mould. If this extra ply is added, the simmetry will no longer exist.
)y question is how important it is to include another chopped mat ply opposite to this
one to have the simmetry. I have already some problems with the weight of the part (it is
li*e a +m diameter cilinder' so I would rather not use one more ply. ,s the mat has
clearly worse properties than the fabric, maybe I can avoid it. I suppose both solutions
are possible, but I would li*e to *now if you thin* the effect of the unsymmetry in this
case could be important.
than*s -"
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,lbigger (,erospace' . )ay !/ 1!0#+
1hy do they need the chopped mat ply2
3ust curious.
4i5cocho ()echanical' . )ay !/ 110!.
Hi6
apparently, the chopped mat ply adapts better to the mould walls, it is more flexible, so it
reduces the ris* of air trapping and imperfections at corners and angles. I would prefer to
remove it, but they have said that it is more ris*y...
(7und ()aterials' . )ay !/ 110++
8hopped mat is also good against the mold for asthetic reasons (less print through of the
woven rovings9yarns'. If this is one layer of 1o5 to 1.#o59sq ft of chopped mat on a 1
ply stac*, I doubt its existance will have much effect on the bend"twisting, etc.
coupling. :specially if this is a hand laminated part and the plies are laid up in steps and
allowed to cure. Having a low shrin* resin system will also mas* any coupling issues.
ber*shire (,eronautics' . )ay !/ 1;0++
4i5cocho
1hat you need here is a veil cloth for the first layer.
here is one manufacturer there are others.
http099www.freemansupply.com9<lexiveil1;!<iberg.htm
(his will give you a s*in coat without adding a lot of unnecessary weight to your part.
4.:.
8ompositepro (8hemical' . )ay !/ 10!!
8hopped mat surface layers and gel coats are used in almost all wet laid parts made in
the marine and commercial industries. (hey also use high shrin* polyester resins that
show alot of fabric print"through. )at and gel coat is almost never used in aerospace
parts because they add weight and crac* under thermocylcing.
It is often best to stay with standard industry practice unless you can clearly show why
not. (he reason that some things are done a certain way are often forgotten or
misunderstood but when you try to change you may relearn the reason.
(he mat does create an unbalance layup, but in a cylindrical part it will not create
unbalanced stresses. (hin flat panels are always the most difficult because it ta*es very
little stress to warp. 4ut, on the other hand, it ta*es very little force or stiffening to
eliminate the warp.
4i5cocho ()echanical' % )ay !/ 4041
(han* you all, your comments are very useful6
(he part, while having a cylindrical shape in half of the body, has also many different
surfaces including flat panels of +x1 meters. (rying to be concise, I described the piece
too simplified. 1e will use isophtalic resin and : type fiberglass for some surfaces and
the same resin with carbon fiber in other areas. <irst, there will be a layer of gelcoat and a
thin mat ply. ,ll layers will be applied by hand and allowed to cure (as some of you
mentioned'.
I agree with 8ompositepro about the idea of being within standard industry practices.
,nd as (7und says, I hope that such thin layer will not have an important effect on the
whole, although the mat is in an external surface where higher bending stresses normally
occur.
4y the way, could the possible warp be chec*ed by doing a standard uniaxial tension test
on the laminate2 and, Has a stiffener attached to the laminate wall the effect of
unbalancing the laminate2
than*s,
4i5cocho
=>stress (,erospace' 14 )ay !/ .0;!
I suspect that a part this complicated (especially mixing carbon and glass with a polyester
matrix' will deform a bit anyway. Having a bit of reasonably light chopped strand mat in
the mix will probably not ma*e much difference.
1arpage is typically due to cure (especially if cured at elevated temperature' or
temperature excursions in service, and is rarely an issue when due to coupling (because
of an unbalanced layup' under applied load. I do not believe that a uniaxial test would
tell you anything useful.
3ust ma*ing a flat panel maybe half a metre or a metre square with your proposed layup
might give you a clue as to what deformations will happen during cure and the sort of
forces needed to *eep it flat. However, the behavior of the actual part, with its
complicated geometry and mix of materials in different areas, will be significantly
different from any such simple test parts.
>redicting spring of composite laminates is very, very difficult. :xperience of similar
parts is about the only way to estimate it, though there are beginning to be some
numerate <:"based techniques which can help quantify it.
8oupling under load due to asymmetry is more amenable to analysis, but, as said above,
is rarely a problem in practice.
(he surface strains will indeed be highest, but stresses in a composite depend on layer
stiffness. , layer of chopped strand mat is no more of a wea* point than the rather wea*
resin at the surface.