Shape retainability and reusability investigation of bottle-shaped SMP mandrel

Shape memory polymer (SMP) mandrel, a kind of mandrel for fabrication of composite structures, has attracted great attention due to the advantages of low cost, simple operation and easy demoulding. In this paper, a type of styrene-based SMP with good shape retainability and recoverability were synthesized and examined by uniaxial tensile test and dynamic mechanical analysis test. Then, a bottle-shaped smart mandrel with shape memory effect was prepared by inflation method. Short/long-time shape retainability and reusability were characterized. Finally, the SMP mandrel was used to form a bottle-shaped composite structure model by filament winding technology. The excellent demoulding property and good reusable ability of SMP mandrel provided potential applications in the composite part production.