Analytical criterion to prevent thermal overshoot during dynamic curing of thick composite laminates
Local overheating during curing of thermosetting resins is likely to occur for thick laminates or during fast curing. Overheating may lead to heterogeneous mechanical properties along the laminate thickness or even to an uncontrolled reaction. To avoid overheating, most thermoset resin manufacturers...
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Elsevier
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Advances in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666912924000217 |
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| author | Jordi Farjas José Antonio González Daniel Sánchez-Rodríguez Norbert Blanco Marc Gascons Josep Costa |
| author_facet | Jordi Farjas José Antonio González Daniel Sánchez-Rodríguez Norbert Blanco Marc Gascons Josep Costa |
| author_sort | Jordi Farjas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Local overheating during curing of thermosetting resins is likely to occur for thick laminates or during fast curing. Overheating may lead to heterogeneous mechanical properties along the laminate thickness or even to an uncontrolled reaction. To avoid overheating, most thermoset resin manufacturers recommend a “safe” cure cycle. However, these cure cycles can be improved to shorten cure times in thin laminates and may not be good enough to avoid overheating in thick laminates. In this paper, we propose a new analytical model to determine the critical thickness above which thermal runaway occurs when the laminate is heated at a constant rate up to a constant temperature. The model considers different thermal boundaries between the mould and the laminate, i.e., from a perfect thermal contact to a contact of infinite resistance. The analytical model was corroborated through the numerical integration of the equations governing it and experimental data from the curing process of a thick laminate composed of the commercial VTC401 epoxy resin and M55J carbon fiber system. Model predictions indicate that, under the manufacturer's recommended cure cycle, which includes an initial heating rate of 2 K/min, thermal runaway occurs in laminates thicker than 12.4 mm, aligning with experimental observations. A 20-mm-thick laminate, exceeding this threshold, was cured using a reduced heating rate of 0.3 K/min based on our criteria, successfully preventing overheating. The maximum temperature gradient recorded experimentally remained below 1 °C, confirming the model's prediction of uniform thermalization. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-04744f5a84f8490d9010969a598c4b58 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2666-9129 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Advances in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-04744f5a84f8490d9010969a598c4b582025-01-03T04:09:02ZengElsevierAdvances in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering2666-91292025-05-0110100156Analytical criterion to prevent thermal overshoot during dynamic curing of thick composite laminatesJordi Farjas0José Antonio González1Daniel Sánchez-Rodríguez2Norbert Blanco3Marc Gascons4Josep Costa5GRMT Materials Research Group and Thermodynamics, Polytechnic School, University of Girona, C/ Universitat de Girona 4, E-17003, Girona, SpainAMADE - Analysis and Advanced Materials for Structural Design, Polytechnic School, University of Girona, C/ Universitat de Girona 4, E-17003, Girona, SpainGRMT Materials Research Group and Thermodynamics, Polytechnic School, University of Girona, C/ Universitat de Girona 4, E-17003, Girona, Spain; Corresponding author.AMADE - Analysis and Advanced Materials for Structural Design, Polytechnic School, University of Girona, C/ Universitat de Girona 4, E-17003, Girona, SpainAMADE - Analysis and Advanced Materials for Structural Design, Polytechnic School, University of Girona, C/ Universitat de Girona 4, E-17003, Girona, SpainAMADE - Analysis and Advanced Materials for Structural Design, Polytechnic School, University of Girona, C/ Universitat de Girona 4, E-17003, Girona, SpainLocal overheating during curing of thermosetting resins is likely to occur for thick laminates or during fast curing. Overheating may lead to heterogeneous mechanical properties along the laminate thickness or even to an uncontrolled reaction. To avoid overheating, most thermoset resin manufacturers recommend a “safe” cure cycle. However, these cure cycles can be improved to shorten cure times in thin laminates and may not be good enough to avoid overheating in thick laminates. In this paper, we propose a new analytical model to determine the critical thickness above which thermal runaway occurs when the laminate is heated at a constant rate up to a constant temperature. The model considers different thermal boundaries between the mould and the laminate, i.e., from a perfect thermal contact to a contact of infinite resistance. The analytical model was corroborated through the numerical integration of the equations governing it and experimental data from the curing process of a thick laminate composed of the commercial VTC401 epoxy resin and M55J carbon fiber system. Model predictions indicate that, under the manufacturer's recommended cure cycle, which includes an initial heating rate of 2 K/min, thermal runaway occurs in laminates thicker than 12.4 mm, aligning with experimental observations. A 20-mm-thick laminate, exceeding this threshold, was cured using a reduced heating rate of 0.3 K/min based on our criteria, successfully preventing overheating. The maximum temperature gradient recorded experimentally remained below 1 °C, confirming the model's prediction of uniform thermalization.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666912924000217LaminatesCure behaviourProcess modelingAutoclave |
| spellingShingle | Jordi Farjas José Antonio González Daniel Sánchez-Rodríguez Norbert Blanco Marc Gascons Josep Costa Analytical criterion to prevent thermal overshoot during dynamic curing of thick composite laminates Advances in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Laminates Cure behaviour Process modeling Autoclave |
| title | Analytical criterion to prevent thermal overshoot during dynamic curing of thick composite laminates |
| title_full | Analytical criterion to prevent thermal overshoot during dynamic curing of thick composite laminates |
| title_fullStr | Analytical criterion to prevent thermal overshoot during dynamic curing of thick composite laminates |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analytical criterion to prevent thermal overshoot during dynamic curing of thick composite laminates |
| title_short | Analytical criterion to prevent thermal overshoot during dynamic curing of thick composite laminates |
| title_sort | analytical criterion to prevent thermal overshoot during dynamic curing of thick composite laminates |
| topic | Laminates Cure behaviour Process modeling Autoclave |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666912924000217 |
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