Influence of glass fiber/epoxy woven roving mat layers on the behavior of shape memory polymer composite beams

The ability of shape memory polymers (SMPs) to undergo significant deformations and still regain their initial shape or another desired shape under the action of particular stimuli has led to their recent application in many domains, particularly in biomedical devices and even space applications. Their use in structural members, however, has been limited due to their low strength and other poor mechanical properties. Incorporating reinforcing fibers or particles into SMPs significantly enhances their mechanical properties but reduces their intrinsic shape memory properties. This paper investigates the shape deformation, shape fixity, and recovery performance of thermally stimulated glass fiber/epoxy woven roving mat (WRM) reinforced SMP laminate beams using finite element analysis relative to unreinforced neat SMP beams. The SMP used in the study is an in-house realized material with optimized constituents to have a high glass transition temperature. The increase in stiffness of the shape memory polymer composite (SMPC) beam and a corresponding reduction in shape memory properties is observed and quantified for different number of layers of the WRM reinforcement and compared with the neat SMP beam. The study contributes valuable insight into optimizing SMPC structures for aerospace applications where a balance is required between superior mechanical properties without much reduction in the shape memory behavior.