A comparative study on the properties of GLARE laminates cured by autoclave and autoclave consolidation followed by oven postcuring

In this study, a new curing technique for producing glass aluminum-reinforced epoxy (GLARE) laminates was explored to reduce autoclave processing time. GLARE2 5/4-0.4 laminates were fabricated with three different approaches: full autoclave curing, autoclave consolidation followed by oven postcuring, and full oven curing. Two types of thermal analysis such as differential scanning calorimetry and dielectric analyzer were performed to provide a supplementary view of the cure behaviors and also incorporated to understand the voids growth. Experimental results revealed that autoclave consolidation followed by oven postcuring laminates had greater interlaminar shear strength than autoclave cure laminates. Additionally, this new curing technique could yield the comparable part’s quality with minimal void content (<1%). The interruption of cure cycle with an intermediate switch from autoclave consolidation to oven postcuring resulted in shrinkage and collapse of voids.