Out of the autoclave
Oven curing (out-of-autoclave, OOA) gives heat only: the only consolidation pressure is the vacuum bag, at most one atmosphere, against roughly 95 psi in the 7.2 autoclave example. That costs some properties, but it is cheaper, and new OOA prepregs are closing the gap. With no pressure to lean on, the recipe matters even more.
Predict · at 1:28 in the video
Why would a thick laminate need to stop at two hundred degrees on the way up?
Because the cure reaction releases heat of its own: the exotherm. Here's our simulation of a thirty-millimetre laminate. The faces follow the oven.
Automated Fiber Placement: Status, Challenges, and Evolution, Ramy Harik & Alex Brasington.
- Chapter 7, section 1.2.A
- Chapter 7, section 1.2.B
Simulations in this lesson are our own. Where the numbers are invented to show a mechanism, the video says so on screen.
