A study on the induction heating of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites

Abstract Recent work in the literature has identified a new heating mechanism during induction processing of carbon thermoplastic prepreg stacks: contact resistance between fibers of adjacent plies. An experimental methodology has been developed to estimate the contact resistance through heating tests based on the properties of the composite and geometry of the specimen. Measured values indicate comparable resistance values at the contact region, compared to resistance in the fiber direction, for AS-4/PEI prepreg stacks under vacuum pressure. The measured values can serve as inputs for induction heating models and process models of carbon thermoplastic prepreg stacks. Keywords: INDUCTION HEATINGCONTACT RESISTANCEDIELECTRIC HYSTERESISTHERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITEPREPREG STRIP