Optimization of curing process parameters of large tow carbon fiber laminates

Abstract In the curing and molding process of carbon fiber composite products, there are problems in the uniform control of the temperature field and thermal stress field, which have a decisive impact on the performance of the final product. In this paper, with large-tow carbon fiber (48K-256P plain weave prepreg) as the object, adopting the autoclave molding process, the influence of the coupling action of curing process parameters on the performance of composite products is deeply studied, combined with the real-time monitoring of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing technology. On this basis, the response surface method and genetic algorithm are used to optimize the curing process parameters such as temperature, pressure, and time. The results show that the optimal process parameters for the 48K-256P plain weave prepreg are T 1 = 55.48 °C, t 1 = 50.57 min, T 2 = 111.37 °C, t 2 = 54.88 min, V = 4.7 °C/min, and P = 0.54 MPa. At this time, its maximum warpage deformation is 0.08 mm, the residual strain is 216.57 με, the tensile strength is 1054.06 MPa, the bending strength is 1113.79 MPa, and its comprehensive score has increased by 28.70 % compared with the recommended process.