Simulation and optimized design of cure cycle for three‐dimensional polymer‐matrix composite component

Abstract

AbstractThe cure cycle plays a crucial role in manufacturing polymer‐matrix composite component. Unreasonable design of cure cycle can easily lead to thermal gradients during curing process, which will generate residual stress and seriously affect the quality of component. Meanwhile, the cure cycle of the three‐dimensional composite component is difficult to optimized, due to the complicated distribution of temperature and curing degree. In this paper, numerical simulation is applied to research the curing process of the polymer‐matrix composite. The change rules of temperature and curing degree are explored. An optimum design method for the cure cycle of three‐dimensional composite component is proposed. Meanwhile, numerical simulation is applied in this method to design the cure cycle by referring to the change rules of temperature and curing degree of the component, in which the internal and external thermal gradients can be balanced during the curing process. The results show that the optimized cure cycle can significantly reduce the thermal gradients for three‐dimensional composite component, which provide guidance for cure cycle design in the manufacturing of polymer‐matrix composite.