Temperature and Degree of Cure in Orthogonal Tri-axial Carbon Fiber Reinforced Three-Dimensional Composites during Cure

A numerical analytical method which predicts changes of temperature and degree of cure in the orthogonal tri-axial carbon fiber reinforced three-dimensional composites (CF-3D3A composites) during cure was proposed, then the stable curing condition was examined by using this method. The numerical analysis for changes of temperature and degree of cure was carried out by using heat balance equation taking account of the cure kinetics of epoxy resin. The calculated result for the CF-3D3A composites was checked against the experimental results of the curing tests. Further, this analysis was applied for the CF-3D3A composites under various cure conditions, and the following results were obtained. (1) The composite composed of the cured rods makes the overheat in curing more suppressed than the one composed of the rovings. (2) The maximum temperature during cure depends on the heat pattern and the size of composites. (3) Increase of heat transfer coefficient is effective to depress the overheat in curing.