Mechanical properties of microwave cured glass fibre epoxy composites prepared by resin transfer moulding

Abstract

The aim of this study was to significantly reduce the curing time for glass fibre epoxy composites in industrial relevant dimensions without worsening of the mechanical properties. With the combination of microwave heating and resin transfer moulding (RTM), the time between filling the mould and demoulding the samples was reduced to only 1 h and 15 min compared to at least 6 h for conventional curing of the same material. Based on the different dielectric losses of cured and uncured resin a pulsed microwave process was developed. In this way homogenously cured samples were obtained. Tensile strength, flexural strength, flexural modulus of elasticity and Charpy impact strength of microwave cured samples were compared to conventionally cured samples. No statistically significant differences were found. Thus, microwave curing shows a high potential to improve the efficiency of fibre composite production while maintaining the mechanical properties.