Sustainable and self-regulating out-of-oven manufacturing of FRPs with integrated multifunctional capabilities. Liu, Y., van Vliet, T., Tao, Y., Busfield, J. J. C., Peijs, T., Bilotti, E., & Zhang, H. COMPOSITES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, April, 2020.
doi  abstract   bibtex   
With the ever increasing demand for energy reduction to stimulate sustainable development, new energy efficient manufacturing processes for advanced fibre-reinforced plastics (FRPs) are of great interest to overcome limitations of conventional autoclave or oven based manufacturing processes such as high energy consumption and size restrictions. Herein, a highly energy efficient and safe out-of-oven curing method is presented by integrating a pyroresistive surface layer with intrinsic self-regulating heating capabilities, into a composite laminate. This surface layer consists of a nanocomposite film based on graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) and possesses self-regulating Joule heating capabilities, which can be used to cure epoxy based composites at a desired temperature without the risk of over-heating. Moreover, the thermoplastic nature of the surface layer enables easy fabrication with good flexibility for complex shapes. Compared to state-of-the-art out-of-autoclave oven curing, the proposed out-of-oven Joule heating approach consumed only 1% of the energy required for curing, with no effect on mechanical performance and glass transition temperature (Td of the final composite. Moreover, the integration of the self-regulating heating layer offers additional functionalities to the cured composites, like strain or damage sensing as well as the potential of de-icing without affecting the internal structure and performance of the laminate. The presented smart heating layer provides a novel solution for sustainable manufacturing as well as real-time structural health monitoring (SHM) throughout the components' life for multifunctional composite applications in the field of renewable wind energy and aerospace.
@article{liu_sustainable_2020,
	title = {Sustainable and self-regulating out-of-oven manufacturing of {FRPs} with integrated multifunctional capabilities},
	volume = {190},
	issn = {0266-3538},
	doi = {10.1016/j.compscitech.2020.108032},
	abstract = {With the ever increasing demand for energy reduction to stimulate sustainable development, new energy efficient manufacturing processes for advanced fibre-reinforced plastics (FRPs) are of great interest to overcome limitations of conventional autoclave or oven based manufacturing processes such as high energy consumption and size restrictions. Herein, a highly energy efficient and safe out-of-oven curing method is presented by integrating a pyroresistive surface layer with intrinsic self-regulating heating capabilities, into a composite laminate. This surface layer consists of a nanocomposite film based on graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) and possesses self-regulating Joule heating capabilities, which can be used to cure epoxy based composites at a desired temperature without the risk of over-heating. Moreover, the thermoplastic nature of the surface layer enables easy fabrication with good flexibility for complex shapes. Compared to state-of-the-art out-of-autoclave oven curing, the proposed out-of-oven Joule heating approach consumed only 1\% of the energy required for curing, with no effect on mechanical performance and glass transition temperature (Td of the final composite. Moreover, the integration of the self-regulating heating layer offers additional functionalities to the cured composites, like strain or damage sensing as well as the potential of de-icing without affecting the internal structure and performance of the laminate. The presented smart heating layer provides a novel solution for sustainable manufacturing as well as real-time structural health monitoring (SHM) throughout the components' life for multifunctional composite applications in the field of renewable wind energy and aerospace.},
	urldate = {2020-04-10},
	journal = {COMPOSITES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY},
	author = {Liu, Yi and van Vliet, Tim and Tao, Yinping and Busfield, James J. C. and Peijs, Ton and Bilotti, Emiliano and Zhang, Han},
	month = apr,
	year = {2020},
}

Downloads: 0