Simultaneous control of curing time and curing quality of auto-clave processed composite based on optimization of temperature profile

Abstract

The temperature profile is an important process parameter for the autoclave curing of composite, which has an important influence on the curing time and the quality of the cured composite part. The curing period and curing quality of autoclave processed composite can be simultaneously controlled by the optimal design of the temperature profile. The numerical simulation of the curing process of a C-shaped composite part was carried out. The prediction results are in good agreement with the experimental test results, which verify the capability of the simulation method. Then, the temperature profile was optimized by using the design of experiment (DOE) method and particle swarm algorithm to achieve the simultaneous control of curing period and curing quality. Experiments were also carried out to verify the optimization results. The results show that the optimal design of temperature profile can effectively reduce the curing period and satisfy the constraints of curing uniformity, curing degree and curing deformation. The curing periods of the optimization cases are reduced by 64% and 45%, respectively.

Keywords

• composite
• autoclave process
• curing process
• temperature profile
• optimization design