Ultraviolet curing of Glass Fibre Reinforced Polyester Composites

Light curing of fibre composites was studied to explore its usefulness as a cost-effective production technique without unacceptable sacrifices of mechanical properties. Knitted continuous glass fibre reinforced polyester composites were cured by ultraviolet light and vacuum bag resin infusion (VBRI). A maximum thickness of 13 mm could be achieved with this technique. The compressive strength was shown to be independent of laminate thickness; but both the flexural strength and modulus were reduced with increasing thickness of laminate. The impact damage was also studied using drop-weight impact tests. For the same impact energy imposed on the laminates, the delamination areas decreased with laminate thickness.