J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2016, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (3): 226-232.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2015.10.006

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Improvement of the Compressive Strength of Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composites via Microwave Curing

Xuehong Xu1, Xiaoqun Wang1, Qun Cai2, Xu Wang2, Ran Wei1, Shanyi Du1   

  1. 1 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China;
    2 Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200436, China
  • 收稿日期:2015-04-08 修回日期:2015-06-23 出版日期:2016-03-10

Improvement of the Compressive Strength of Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composites via Microwave Curing

Xuehong Xu1, Xiaoqun Wang1, Qun Cai2, Xu Wang2, Ran Wei1, Shanyi Du1   

  1. 1 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China;
    2 Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200436, China
  • Received:2015-04-08 Revised:2015-06-23 Online:2016-03-10
  • Contact: Ph.D.; Tel.: +86 10 82338827; Fax: +86 10 82338001.E-mail address: wangxiaoqun@buaa.edu.cn (X. Wang).
  • Supported by:
    The authors would like to thank the Innovation Funds of China-National Engineering and Research Center for Commercial Aircraft Manufacturing (SAMC12-JS-15-015) for financial support. The authors also gratefully acknowledge Prof. Boming Zhang for his support in the mechanical properties testing.

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摘要： Microwave processing was used to cure the carbon fiber/epoxy composites and designed for improving the compressive strength of the materials. By controlling the power of microwave heating, vacuum bagged laminates were fabricated under one atmosphere pressure without arcing. The physical and mechanical properties of composites produced through vacuum bagging using microwave and thermal curing were compared and the multistep (2-step or 3-step) microwave curing process for improved compressive properties was established. The results indicated that microwave cured samples had somewhat differentiated molecular structure and showed slightly higher glass transition temperature. The 2-step process was found to be more conducive to the enhancement of the compressive strength than the 3-step process. A 39% cure cycle time reduction and a 22% compressive strength increment were achieved for the composites manufactured with microwave radiation. The improvement in specific compressive strength was attributed to better interfacial bonding between resin matrix and the fibers, which was also demonstrated via scanning electron microscopy analysis.

关键词: Carbon fiber, Epoxy, Microwave curing, Compressive properties

Abstract: Microwave processing was used to cure the carbon fiber/epoxy composites and designed for improving the compressive strength of the materials. By controlling the power of microwave heating, vacuum bagged laminates were fabricated under one atmosphere pressure without arcing. The physical and mechanical properties of composites produced through vacuum bagging using microwave and thermal curing were compared and the multistep (2-step or 3-step) microwave curing process for improved compressive properties was established. The results indicated that microwave cured samples had somewhat differentiated molecular structure and showed slightly higher glass transition temperature. The 2-step process was found to be more conducive to the enhancement of the compressive strength than the 3-step process. A 39% cure cycle time reduction and a 22% compressive strength increment were achieved for the composites manufactured with microwave radiation. The improvement in specific compressive strength was attributed to better interfacial bonding between resin matrix and the fibers, which was also demonstrated via scanning electron microscopy analysis.

Key words: Carbon fiber, Epoxy, Microwave curing, Compressive properties