Investigation of Variothermal Mould Heating Systems for Processing of High Temperature Thermoplastic Composites in Short Cycles

Due to their good mechanical and physical properties as well as the potential for short cycle manufacturing, high performance thermoplastic composites offer a promising alternative to thermoset composites, especially in the aerospace industry. In this study, a new out-of-autoclave tooling concept is presented to manufacture tape-braided CF/PEKK composites in a bladder assisted moulding process. In order to reduce cycle times to less than 20 minutes, four different heating systems are investigated, including infrared heaters and three different resistive heating systems. The heating rates, the temperature distribution and the efficiency of the systems are examined in a technical benchmark to evaluate production at an early stage.