Experimental Study on Microwave-Based Curing Process with Thermal Expansion Pressure of PTFE for Manufacturing Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composites

Conventional composite curing incur high production costs because of their long processing times. In contrast, microwave curing process (MCP) can reduce the production costs because both the mold and the composite parts can be heated directly. In this study, a mold consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), quartz glass, and stainless steel clamps was manufactured to cure composite specimens of carbon fiber and epoxy resin. Flame test was conducted prior to the MCP to confirm whether the spark occurred in the mold and the composite prepreg. Uniaxial tensile tests and three-point bending tests were then conducted to obtain the mechanical properties of the composite specimens according to the input power and the processing time. The mechanical properties of the composite specimens fabricated by MCP were compared with those of composite specimens manufactured by PCF. The results show that MCP can cure the composite prepreg more rapidly than PCF and can attain comparable mechanical properties.