Zone-regulated microwave heating of CFRP laminates via ultrathin and flexible resonance structures with different working frequencies

Abstract

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites are integral to today's industries. Curing is a vital process for manufacturing CFRP components. Recently, great attention has been devoted to curing CFRP components via controllable temperature gradients, taking their geometries and structures into consideration. Here, for the first time, we proposed an idea to regionally manipulate the temperature distribution of the CFRP laminate through frequency-selective absorption. Specifically, two kinds of periodically arranged metallic resonance structures (18 μm thick) working at 915 MHz and 2.45 GHz were designed and fabricated. Frequency-selective absorption and thus zone-regulated microwave heating have been realized by introducing these ultrathin and flexible resonance structures on the CFRP laminate. On this basis, two applications have also been demonstrated, including a dynamically patterned thermal display and a uniform heating process on laminates with non-uniform thickness.