Abstract
Shortening the curing time is critical to improve the processing efficiency of composites. In this paper, unidirectional carbon fibre-reinforced rapid curing epoxy composite laminates were fabricated by vacuum-assisted resin injection moulding (VARIM). Different rapid curing processes (namely P80, P85, and P90) were employed, which preheating temperatures were 80, 85 and 90 °C, respectively. Different preheating temperatures of mould and fibre preform were conducted, to demonstrate the effects on the properties and processing time of the composites. In addition, a slow curing process (N80) was investigated to verify the effect of rapid curing on the mechanical properties of the composites. The relationships among preheating temperature, curing cycle and properties of the composites were analyzed. The results showed that the preheating temperature had obvious effects on the total cycle time and properties of the composites. The cycle time of the P80 process was 947 s, whereas that of the P90 process was 702 s. However, nonuniformity of the mechanical properties along the resin flow direction was more obvious for the P90 process, and more voids formed in the resin outlet region. Composites fabricated by the P80 process showed comparable mechanical properties and processing quality to those from the N80 process. It is suggested that a rapid curing process with proper preheating temperature is acceptable to improve the processing efficiency.