Effect of Vibration Pretreatment-Microwave Curing Process Parameters on the Mechanical Performance of Resin-Based Composites

• Published in: Polymers 2024-09, Vol.16 (17), p.2518
• Main Authors: Zhang, Dechao, Zhan, Lihua, Ma, Bolin, Guo, Jinzhan, Jin, Wentao, Hu, Xin, Yao, Shunming, Dai, Guangming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Composite materials; Curing; Design factors; Design of experiments; Design optimization; Dwell time; Energy consumption; Impact strength; Interfacial bonding; Interfacial shear strength; Low pressure; Mechanical properties; Microwave heating; Molding (process); Optical properties; Parameter identification; Pressure effects; Pretreatment; Process parameters; Random vibration; Resins; Shear strength; Thermogravimetric analysis; Vibration analysis; Vibration effects
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym16172518

The vibration pretreatment-microwave curing process can achieve high-quality molding under low-pressure conditions and is widely used in the curing of resin-based composites. This study investigated the effects of the vibration pretreatment process parameters on the void content and the fiber weight fraction of T700/TRE231; specifically, their influence on the interlaminar shear strength and impact strength of the composite. Initially, an orthogonal experimental design was employed with interlaminar shear strength as the optimization target, where vibration acceleration was determined as the primary factor and dwell time as the secondary factor. Concurrently, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was performed based on process parameters that corresponded to the extremum of interlaminar shear strength, revealing a 2.17% difference in fiber weight fraction among specimens with varying parameters, indicating a minimal effect of fiber weight fraction on mechanical properties. Optical digital microscope (ODM) analysis identified interlaminar large-size voids in specimens treated with vibration energy of 5 g and 15 g, while specimens subjected to a vibration energy of 10 g exhibited numerous small-sized voids within layers, suggesting that vibration acceleration influences void escape pathways. Finally, impact testing revealed the effect of the vibration pretreatment process parameters on the impact strength, implying a positive correlation between interlaminar shear strength and impact strength.