Microwave processing has been investigated as an alternative to conventional thermal method in processing polymer matrix composite materials. The main advantages of microwave processing over thermal processing are that: 1) microwave heating is volumetric, direct, selective, instantaneous, and controllable which offers advantages such as fast heating and minimization of temperature excursion; 2) microwave radiation can provide many desirable features in polymer and composite processing, such as enhanced polymerization rates and glass transition temperatures of thermosets, improved mechanical properties of composite materials, and increased adhesion between graphite fibers and matrix.Microwave heating has been used in food processing, drying, material processing, waste treatment, and organic synthesis. This paper summarizes the current status of microwave technology for the processing of polymer matrix composite materials. The discussion will be focused on the use and development of batch and continuous techniques using tunable single mode resonant microwave cavities for processing polymer composites.
Microwave curing of composite materials is a novel technology which can be an alternative to conventional thermal curing and has many advantages over thermal curing, i.e, fast and direct heating, selective heating, and controllability. Currently, the existing technology is more empirical and cannot be easily described by traditional process models. One key enabling step for realizing the advantages of the microwave curing technology is a capability for utilizing all the available existing knowledge in a concise manner. The major elements of a control system which utilizes traditional control techniques and (non-traditional) expert systems techniques in a real time microwave cure monitoring and control is discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.