SBIR/STTR PHASE I: Revolutionary Manufacturing Process for UV Cured Composite Structures

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a novel method of UV curing composite structures that will extend UV curing techniques to any size, thickness, or shape composite and with any type of reinforcing fiber by uniformly distributing UV light throughout a composite structure. The anticipated result is a new UV curing process that can be used in many diverse applications, including aircraft, automotive, spacecraft, and marine. The process will significantly reduce the cost of manufacturing composite parts, improve the performance of these parts (by reducing residual stresses), and open new applications for composite materials using this fabrication technique. This novel UV curing technique is most attractive for large or complex composite parts. The proposed UV curing process has the potential to replace thermal curing for nearly all composite parts because it will achieve large cost and time savings while improving, or at least equaling, the thermally cured composite part performance. Additionally, the size limitations imposed by the use of an autoclave are removed because this UV curing process does not require an autoclave or any specialized tooling. Applications for this UV curing process exist in all fields, including next generation vehicle applications