Heating cycle design for thick composite laminates using curing processes for thin laminates

A new method has been developed to determine the curing cycles for thick laminates. The method uses numerical simulation together with knowledge of the conventional curing process for thin laminates. Once the process control parameters have been introduced, an iterative procedure is employed to arrive at the optimal heating cycles for thick laminates. Autoclave curing processes have been carried out using conventional cycles for (1 mm) laminates, as well as optimised cycles for thick section (12.5 mm) laminates. The interlaminar shear strengths of thick laminates, processed using the two types of curing cycles have been determined. Results show that there is no difference in the interlaminar shear strengths of laminates produced using the optimised and conventional curing cycles, but the curing times can be greatly reduced for the optimised curing cycle.