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has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Kinetic Study of Resin-Curing on Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Resin Composites by Microwave Irradiation

  AUTHORS: Daisuke Shimamoto, Yusuke Imai, Yuji Hotta

  KEYWORDS: Activation Energy, Resin-Curing, Microwave Irradiation, Epoxy Resin, Carbon Fiber

  JOURNAL NAME: Open Journal of Composite Materials, Vol.4 No.2, April 4, 2014

  ABSTRACT: Microwave processing has great potential for improving composite manufacturing such as reduction of curing time, energy requirements and operational costs. In this paper, the effects of microwave irradiation for resin-curing of carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite that was composed of discontinuous carbon fibers of 130 μm or 3 mm were investigated. The mechanical properties of carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite cured by microwave irradiation for 20 min at 120°C were similar to ones of the sample prepared by conventional oven for 180 min at 120°C. Microwavecured carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite had higher glass transition temperature than the one prepared by conventional oven. The relation between curing time and flexural modulus indicated that the curing velocity of microwave-irradiated carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite was 9 times faster than the one prepared by conventional oven. Furthermore, activation energies for resincuring reaction on microwave and conventional-cured carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite were estimated. The resin-curing reaction in carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite was promoted by microwave irradiation.