A novel microwave combined ultraviolet radiator based on slotted coaxial line for epoxy resin curing

Curing resin matrix composite quickly constitutes one of the key technologies for industrial lightweight production, especially in automobile manufacturing and aircraft maintenance. In this study, a novel gap coaxial line microwave combined ultraviolet radiator is proposed for epoxy resin curing. With the same power of 100 W, epoxy resin is cured both by the proposed radiator working at a microwave frequency of 2.45 GHz and single ultraviolet. Respectively, the ultraviolet radiation and microwave combined ultraviolet radiation are measured. The microwave radiation and plasma absorption of this radiator is close to 3:4 by simulation and experiment. In addition, experimental results indicate that the processing time using this radiator is 3.6 times shorter than using single ultraviolet. The toughness and adhesiveness of the epoxy resin after curing are compared by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffusion, and the fracture surface of the cured epoxy resin demonstrates that microwave combined ultraviolet curing is more effective.