A two-layered cross-ply laminate model for a single-ply satin woven fabric composite under thermal loads

• A single-ply satin woven fabric can be considered two plies of lamina. • Two-layered cross-ply laminate model exactly predicts principal curvature direction. • The conventional model predicts wrong curvatures in case of satin woven fabrics. • The ABD matrix was decomposed into two 3 × 3 independent matrices by rearrangement. • The principal curvature direction is always oriented along 45°. The dominant fiber direction of a single-ply satin woven fabric is different depending on whether it is the upper or lower side. This affects the thermal distortion of laminates and principal curvature directions. Therefore, we propose a two-layered cross-ply laminate model for a single-ply satin woven fabric composite to consider the dominant fiber directions. To verify our model, we derive analytical solutions of antisymmetric angle-ply laminates under thermal loads for the conventional and proposed models. By comparing the analytical solutions with experimental results of unidirectional and satin woven fabric composites, we confirm that the proposed model accurately predicts the principal curvature direction.