Inside the autoclave
The autoclave is the industry standard for prepreg and AFP parts because it adds external pressure on top of vacuum bagging, while running a precise temperature recipe. The recipe matters: the resin first gets runny (low viscosity) so it can fill voids and compact, then the reaction builds the network and the resin sets. Holding at temperature is what completes the cure.
Predict · at 1:28 in the video
The part reaches three hundred and fifty degrees after ninety-five minutes. Why hold it there for almost two more hours?
Because reaching the temperature isn't the same as finishing the cure. Watch the resin. As it heats, it gets runny.
Automated Fiber Placement: Status, Challenges, and Evolution, Ramy Harik & Alex Brasington.
- Chapter 7, section 1.1.A
- Chapter 7, section 1.1.B
- Chapter 7, section 1.1.C
Simulations in this lesson are our own. Where the numbers are invented to show a mechanism, the video says so on screen.
