Mechanical performance of carbon fiber/epoxy composites cured by self-resistance electric heating method

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic self-resistance electric (SRE) heating has been conceived as an alternative to out-of-autoclave technology due to its characteristics of uniform heating, fast heating/cooling, low energy consumption, and low equipment investment. In this work, a series of SRE heating experiments were conducted, in which the temperature distribution field, energy consumption, and curing time of SRE curing process were characterized. Comprehensive mechanical tests and microscopic characterization were carried out. The experimental results exhibit that the rapid heating rate of SRE curing process resulted in a weaker matrix performance because of the insufficient time of void elimination, which finally leads to an inferior compression and flexural strength for the composite part, while the fiber preferential heating effect can significantly improve the fiber-resin interfacial strength, because the naturally formed temperature difference along the interfacial area enhanced the adhesive strength of the resin around the interface, which improved the macroscopic tension and interlaminar shear strength.