Experimental investigation of the effects of infrared heating mechanism on the mechanical properties of autoclave cured CFRPs

Adamant Composites Ltd.; Hellenic Aerospace Industry S.A; JEC Group; Materials Today; Photron; Shimadzu Europa GmbH18th European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM 2018 -- 24 June 2018 through 28 June 2018 -- 155810Autoclave curing method is widely used in manufacturing of aerospace and automotive grade carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) components. However, both the autoclave operating costs and long curing times yield high component costs and limit the mass production ability. These limitations make researchers to canalize their efforts to cost effective solutions without sacrificing the product quality. These cost effective solutions can be classified into two main groups: reducing the curing times and enhancing the efficiency of the process. In this study, effects of heating mechanism on the curing and mechanical properties of autoclave cured CFRPs were investigated. Infrared and conventional resistance heating were considered and compared. For this purpose, an infrared curing oven was constructed to simulate the autoclave cure cycle without pressure. Infrared heating is a cost effective mechanism than conventional resistance heating because it just heats the material instead of whole autoclave chamber. 75 mm x 250 mm x 3 mm CFRP plates were fabricated in this infrared oven. They were cut into 3 pieces for tensile testing. Results were compared with the ones manufactured by conventional autoclave oven at the same cure cycle. A correlation of the results of the mechanical properties and curing behaviors of the products was obtained. Results showed that infrared can be used for curing of CFRPs instead of resistance heating, especially in plain geometries. But for complex shapes, a homogen heating pattern should be provided by adjusting the location of infrared heaters with regard to the product geometry. In the light of these findings, it can be deduced that hybrid autoclave ovens can be developed which are using both infrared heating and resistance heating so as to enhance the efficiency of the process in composite plate manufacturing. © CCM 2020 - 18th European Conference on Composite Materials. All rights reserved