Significant effect of vibration treatment on microwave curing carbon fiber reinforced plastic

As an emerging composite curing process, the microwave curing process has been widely concerned by many research teams due to its several major advantages over conventional conductive heating when used to cure carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites, especially in speed of processing. However, many studies have shown that the quality and properties of microwave cured-composites have been reduced compared with the autoclave process, which limits the universal application of the technology in the field of composites manufacturing. In this study, in order to improve the quality of microwave cured-composites and reduce the influence of pressure on the forming process, a series of laminates have been prepared at different heating rates by introducing vibration treatment into the microwave curing process. The short-beam three-point bending test, optical digital microscopy, scanning electron microscope were used to analyze laminates from micro- and macro-scale point of view. The results showed that the introduction of vibration treatment could effectively reduce the internal defects and improve the mechanical properties of the microwave cured-laminates, which provided a new method for high-quality, low-defects microwave curing of composites.