Thermal stress distribution of multi-layered composite tubes affected by braiding angle

Braided tubular composites have been widely applied in various industries, such as aerospace, automobile, and sports, due to their light weight, high fatigue resistance, and good corrosion resistance. It is necessary to study the effect of the preform parameters on the thermodynamic behavior of braided tubular composites. A thermoelastic model of braided multi-layered tubes was developed to investigate the effect of changing the braiding angle on the thermal stress distribution. The thermal stress distributions of different structures were analyzed based on the model. The analysis results show that the layer-by-layer braiding angle critically affects the gradient of the axial thermal stress. The change rates of the braiding angle also significantly affect the gradient of the radial thermal stress. The theoretical results were verified by finite element analysis. These results are beneficial to the optimal design of braided composite tubes subjected to thermal load.