Differentiated heating of CFRP composite structures wirelessly using microwave and electromagnetic resonators

Developing new heating techniques is crucial for manufacturing carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite parts, as these kinds of components usually need to be chemically cured or physically consolidated under specific temperature fields. Recently, great attention has been paid to differentiated heating methods since they can exert a uniform temperature field on the component and its tooling which always have uneven thermal mass distributions. Moreover, they also offer the possibility of improving the curing or consolidation quality through customized temperature fields. In this paper, we report a differentiated microwave heating method based on pre-designed electromagnetic resonators which has the advantages of wireless connections, quick response, and precise temperature control. To verify the idea, four kinds of resonators with rectangular copper patterns on polyimide films of different thicknesses were first designed and fabricated, making the CFRP laminate have an absorbance of 28