A SENSOR FOR CONTINUOUSLY MONITORING THE DEGREE OF CURE OF COMPOSITE MATERIAL DURING PULTRUSION

THE PULTRUSION PROCESS IS ONE OF THE LEAST EXPENSIVE METHODSFOR PRODUCING STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS FROM ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS. THE PROCESS HAS TRADITIONALLY SUFFERED FROM THE INABILITY TO PRODUCE PARTS OF REPEATEDLY CONSISTENT QUALITY. AMERICAN COMPOSITE TECHNOLOGY (ACT) HAS BEEN ACTIVELY INVESTIGATING METHODS FOR INCREASING THE CONSISTENCY OF PULTRUDED COMPOSITES. THEY FEEL THAT MAJOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS COULD BE MADE IF IT WERE POSSIBLE TO CONTINUOUSLY MONITOR THE DEGREE OF CURE OF THE COMPOSITE MATRIX MATERIAL INSIDE THE FORMING DIE AS IT IS BEING CURED. ACT PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A SENSOR COMPATIBLE WITH THEHOSTILE ENVIRONMENT OF HIGH TEMPERATURE, PRESSURE AND ABRASION INSIDE THE PULTRUSION DIE THAT WILL ALLOW THE STATE OF THE MATRIX MATERIAL TO BE CONTINUOUSLY MONITORED. THIS CAPABILITY DOES NOT CURRENTLY EXIST. DATA FROM THE SENSOR COULD BE USED BY A SMART CONTROL SYSTEM TO MAINTAIN PRODUCT QUALITY. THE APPROACH WILL BE TO COMBINE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SENSOR ELECTRONICS DEVELOPED BY MICROMET INSTRUMENTS FOR MONITORING COMPOSITE CURE IN LESS HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS WITH A CASTABLE CERAMIC SUBSTRATE. DURING THE PROGRAM ACT WILL DEVELOP METHODS FOR TRANSFERRINGTHE CONDUCTIVE ELEMENTS OF THE SENSOR TO THE SURFACE OF A MOLD, ESTABLISH TECHNIQUES FOR CASTING A PROTECTIVE CERAMIC BACKING, AND TEST PROTOTYPES UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS.