Polymer Composite Curing Ovens

Polymers are complex materials with flexible forms, widely varied compositions, and properties that change as the polymers interact with their environment over time. Structurally, polymers are large molecules built from many small molecules and can consist of many thousands of atoms in chains or networks of repeating units. Polymer Curing refers to the toughening or hardening of a polymer material through the cross linking of polymer chains. Composites are complex—they are hierarchical designs of matrices, fibers, and other components that are both materials and structures. Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs) challenge the industry to develop innovative durability models that will enable composite developers and component designers to tailor the properties of the matrix resin and the interstitial phases between matrices and fibers to the intended use environment, just as they tailor the direction of the fibers to the principle direction of loading. As application environments go to extremes of stress, temperature, chemical compositions, and other factors, this challenge becomes both more important and difficult to achieve. Composite materials are used in high performance products which are required to be lightweight, chemically inert yet mechanically strong to cope with harsh conditions in applications like Aerospace, Automotive and Defence.