As an attractive alternative to the traditional autoclave curing process, microwave curing has been widely used for manufacturing high-performance composites. However, the nonuniform temperature distribution during composite curing is the main problem faced by the microwave curing process, which limits its application in the aerospace industry. This paper studied the regulating effects of cavity structure and mechanical optimization methods on the uniformity of the microwave field by numerical analysis and finite element simulation, and an octagonal microwave heating device with multi-microwave generators, mode stirrers and mobile platform was developed independently and the experimental verification were finally carried out. The results showed that compared with the traditional heating device, the T800/602 carbon fiber reinforced composite laminates cured in the regulating device of microwave heating uniformity established in this paper had more uniform temperature field distribution, a more synchronous curing process and lower residual stresses.
Keywords: finite element simulation; microwave curing; polymer-matrix composites; residual stress.