Application of Pulse Method to Incremental Slitting Measurement of Residual Stresses in Laminated Composites

In this research, the incremental slitting method was employed to determine through-thickness residual stress profile of a carbon/epoxy laminate. The method involves measuring strains at the back surface of the stressed specimen, while a narrow slit is cut by a CNC milling machine progressively from the top surface of the specimen. "Pulse Method" was selected as the computational approach for the determination of residual stresses from measured strains. Results show that thermal residual stresses resulting from curing process of laminated composites have high values and may play a significant role in the failure of these components.