Manufacture of fiber‐reinforced composites by microwave assisted pultrusion

Abstract A brief review of the potential for microwave heating in the manufacture of fiberreinforced composites is presented, with particular emphasis on the Microwave Assisted Pultrusion (MAP). Manufacture of a 6 mm cylindrical glass reinforced profile, based on a number of latent‐cure epoxy resins by MAP is described. These materials combine room temperature stability (long pot life) with rapid crosslinking at elevated temperature. The measured line speeds exceeded 2 m/min, using approximately 800 W of applied microwave power in a single mode TM ₀₁₀ cavity operating at 2450 MHz. The measured pulling force was about 250 N, showing a stick‐slip behavior for a crosslinked profile. The ultimate tensile strength and the interlaminar shear strength of the profiles increased after post curing, suggesting that the extent of crosslinking in the MAP die may be diffusion limited.