The present paper is concerned with the thermoelectric behaviour of CFRP composite
samples subjected to DC currents in view of developing experimental and modelling tools
for the characterisation of the thermo-electro-mechanical behaviour of composite materials
for aircraft applications. DC currents up to 8 A are injected through the specimens end
sides by employing several different electrode techniques whose performances are assessed
and compared. Sample and electrode contact resistances are measured for different values
of the injected current. The transient and permanent temperatures fields promoted by the
injected currents are experimentally measured by infrared thermography. The temperature
fields are simulated numerically by a thermoelectric coupled model employing the
ABAQUS®
FE commercial code; temperatures can be also approximately calculated by a simple lumped
parameter model discarding thermal conduction. The comparison between simulations by the
models and measurements allows employing the simplified model as a tool to design
thermo-electro-mechanical tests.