Original Article Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture 2019, Vol. 233(4) 1168–1181 Ó IMechE 2018 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0954405418769950 journals.sagepub.com/home/pib Rapid consolidation and curing of advanced composites using electron beam irradiation Robert Rizzolo 1 , Daniel Walczyk 1 , Jaron Kuppers 2 , Daniel Montoney 3 and Richard Galloway 4 Abstract A low-cost, low-waste manufacturing method for advanced thermoset composite parts could improve market penetra- tion of composites compared to other engineering materials such as aluminum or steel. Such a method could combine some of the new trends in composites manufacturing such as resin infusion (eliminates need for prepreg), out-of- autoclave consolidation, and snap curing. The feasibility of a hybrid process with these characteristics has been demon- strated by uniting liquid composite molding, resin curing by electron beam irradiation, and high pressure consolidation with specialized elastomeric tooling. To demonstrate feasibility, a mold set was designed to make flat, square four-ply woven carbon fiber parts by (1) vacuum-infusing dry preforms with an electron beam–curable epoxy resin in minutes, (2) applying 690kPa of uniform pressure and consolidating in seconds using an elastomer-faced specialized elastomeric tooling tool and simple hydraulic press, and (3) curing in seconds using a 3MeVelectron beam source. To better under- stand how various process parameters affect part performance, parameters are varied in a simple design of experiments, and flexural strength and stiffness, thickness distribution, fiber and void volume fractions, surface roughness, and cross- sectional characteristics (via microscopy) are measured and compared. Keywords Advanced composites, thermosetting resin, consolidation, liquid composite molding, resin curing Date received: 13 November 2016; accepted: 16 March 2018 Introduction A potentially rapid, low-cost, and low-waste process for manufacturing advanced thermoset composite parts might involve (1) resin and reinforcement provided unmixed and dry, respectively, to avoid the added expense and storage requirements of ‘‘prepreg’’; (2) uni- form high consolidation pressure applied to the lami- nate or sandwich structure part without using autoclave; and (3) resin matrix cured rapidly without using heat. Such a process would allow manufacturers to store dry fiber and unmixed resin nearly indefinitely, combine the materials and consolidate them, and then snap-cure the resin to form a high-quality, high- performance part. Existing advanced composite manu- facturing methods possess these characteristics either individually or in combination to some degree, but they have not been fully integrated together until now. This article presents a feasibility study involving a completely new tooling design concept and set of pro- cesses that combines resin infusion (RI) to eliminate the need for prepreg materials, specialized elastomeric tooling (SET) without a heated mold as an energy- efficient and low-cost alternative to autoclaving, and electron beam (EB) irradiation with an appropriate resin system to significantly reduce cure time. For con- venience sake, the new hybrid process will be referred to as EB-SETRI. Although these individual processes have been demonstrated commercially (some for decades), the novelty of the combined process is in the tooling design and how the processes are integrated. 1 Center for Automation Technologies & Systems, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA 2 Vistex Composites LLC, Schenectady, NY, USA 3 Rapid Cure Technologies, Inc., East Syracuse, NY, USA 4 IBA Industrial, Inc., Edgewood, NY, USA Corresponding author: Daniel Walczyk, Center for Automation Technologies and Systems, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, NY 12180, USA. Email: walczd@rpi.edu