Numerical Relaxation Analysis of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers

Abstract Carbon fiber reinforced polymers are widely used to manufacture aerospace deployable structures. These structures are folded in launch configuration and then deployed in space for operational activities. Since the stowage of deployable structures in folded configuration occurs for long time, the understanding of the viscoelastic properties of the material is essential to predict the structural behavior during both the deployment phase and the operational life. In this work, numerical relaxation analysis is performed on the representative volume element (RVE) of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer using a homogenization approach at the microscale. This aims to predict the effects of matrix viscoelasticity on the structural performance of a deployable structure.