The influence of key processing parameters on thermoset laminate curing

The many uncertainties in thermoset composite laminate processing can have undesirable consequences. It is impractical to address the uncertainties individually. A methodology is introduced in this study that ranks parameters by an influence metric to give insights into how to reduce variability in cure time most effectively. The presented example considers a range of parameters from the material, geometry, and processing conditions within a thermochemical model of composite laminate curing. Due to the nonlinearities in the process, the influence metric must include representative parameter uncertainty. In the example considered here of a high-performance aerospace grade epoxy system, dwell temperature and diffusion terms in the cure kinetics model were most influential. This was a result of a long dwell period and a post-vitrification final degree of cure. Therefore, the best investment to reduce curing variability is processing equipment with repeatable and uniform temperature.