ASSESSMENT OF INDUCTION HEATING METHODS FOR HIGH-VOLUME MANUFACTURING OF CARBON THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITES

摘要

One of the barriers to extensive composites use in the automotive industry is the need for high production rates (>100,000 parts per year). Induction-based heating methods for carbon fiber composites have the potential for high-rate volumetric heating and represent a potential enabling technology to address the heat-up phase of high-speed manufacturing. A critical assessment of induction heating physics in carbon fiber composites, effects of fiber architecture and stacking sequence on heating characteristics, recent theoretical and experimental work and potential application in high-speed forming of carbon fiber thermoplastics is presented.