Studi Experimental Pengaruh Oven Curing Composite Pada Proses Pengerasan Carbonn Fiber Bodi Mobil Prototipe Team Horas USU

Abstract

This research focuses on developing an optimal composite curing oven for the production of the Team Horas USU prototype body, as well as analyzing the impact of curing temperature and vacuum bagging methods on carbon fiber quality. The designed oven demonstrates uniform heat distribution with an average temperature variation of only 0.76°C, although temperature control during hold time and cooling still requires improvement. In the specimen preparation process, carbon fiber is processed using two methods: vacuum bagging with a curing temperature of 120°C and a lay-up method at room temperature. In the vacuum bagging method, carbon fiber is placed in a mold after being coated with mirror glass, then resin is flowed using a vacuum infusion technique with a resin to hardener ratio of 4:1, followed by a curing process in the designed oven. Meanwhile, in the lay-up method, carbon fiber is manually layered with resin and dried at room temperature for 24 hours. Testing of the specimens showed that the use of a curing temperature of 120°C and vacuum bagging with a pressure of 14 Psi significantly increased the hardness of the carbon fiber by 126.82% and the flexural stress by 7.9% compared to the lay-up method. These results indicate that the developed curing oven is effective in improving the quality of carbon fiber material. Other research indicates that carbon fiber curing can be performed with variations in temperature, such as 80°C, 100°C, and 120°C. In addition, there is an alternative curing method without an oven or autoclave using Ultra Violet energy. Automatic carbon fiber composite curing ovens are also commercially available. Ovens with vacuum systems are also used for carbon fiber components.