Consolidation of advanced composites having volatile generation

Abstract Processing polyimide‐based thermosetting matrix composites is complicated because of gaseous volatiles produced during the polymerization and crosslinking reactions. This process involves complex interactions between part geometry, temperature and force cycles, and matrix/fiber properties. A simple model for the consolidation process that treats these composites as a three‐phase system consisting of fiber, resin, and volatile has been developed. This model has been applied to compression molding process for constant thickness laminates and the predictions agree well with experiments. Further extension to handle three‐dimensional parts and the required numerical techniques have also been developed.