Enhanced Heating for Composites Manufacture

Composite materials are used in many industries, including aerospace and automotive, due to their advantageous material properties. The manufacturing processes used to make the composite components found in cars, aircraft etc. all use heating technologies to melt, soften or cure the constituent materials. There is a on-going need to increase the speed and quality of these processes, in order to satisfy growing demand in each industry, but current trial-and-error heating methods leave little opportunity for rapid and significant improvement. Therefore, a deeper understanding is required of the heating performance of the materials involved, combined with a knowledge of which heating technology is best for each process. This project will provide the knowledge required to achieve such improvements by combining physical testing and numerical simulation to inform the composites industry of the most appropriate heating technology for each particular manufacturing process and, furthermore, to give guidance on how to use that technology most efficiently. It will compare existing heating technologies, such as infrared lamps and lasers, with a new, innovate technology known as a Xenon flashlamp, and aims to provide improvements in the speed, cost and quality of manufacture as well as reduce the energy and waste materials used in such processes. A successful outcome to the project will help to maintain and enhance the UK's position at the forefront of composites manufacture.