Robotic UV Curing: A Cost-Effective Way to Cure Large 3-D Composite Parts

摘要

Composite part manufacturers are paying more attention to UV curing as a means to produce their parts. The interest is driven by several advantages of UV: UV cure is fast. Composite resins can be cured in a tiny fraction of the time needed for traditional MEKP cure systems; UV Cure can be precisely controlled. With UV, there is no cure without strong UV light exposure. This has several advantages over traditional systems. The pot life of resin is very long for example, reducing waste. It's also practical to cure some portions of a part while waiting to cure others by masking them off from light; The UV process virtually eliminates the emission of hazardous styrene from the cure process. This can be a significant advantage for those manufacturers concerned with worker safety or facing regulatory styrene emission controls which are difficult to meet.