1338 Effect of the Hardness and Thickness of Elastomer on the Thermal Deformation of High Performance Active Laminates
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The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the hardness and thickness of elastomer on the thermal deformation of high performance, that is, large deformation and high output force type active laminate using elastomer. The conventional active laminate was made by hot-pressing of an aluminum plate as a high CTE material, a unidirectional CFRP prepreg as a low CTE/electric resistance heating material and an epoxy adhesive layer as an insulating material. And the high performance ones were basically stacks of thin and large deformation type active laminates sandwiching elastomer. In this study, it was found that the thermal deformation of the active stack increases with decreasing hardness and thickness of the elastomer layer in the experimental range and the large deformation close to the level of single laminate can be achieved by using the soft rubber sheet of hardness H_s=1 (Shore A). Theoretical analyses were also carried out and the stress concentration around the edges of specimen at the interface of laminates and rubber sheet was found to be the important factor in determining the shape of active stacks.
