An applicator for microwave assisted pultrusion of carbon fiber reinforced plastic

Pultrusion is the process for production of semi-product composite profiles with carbon or glass fiber reinforcements [1], [2]. The glass or carbon fibers are mixed with resin (phenolic or epoxy) and pulled trough a shaping die. During this process heat is applied for curing the resin and getting a solid material. Today, conventional heating methods are used. At this place, a microwave applicator is presented which shall proof the advantage of fast and volumetric heating, where only the fibers and resin are heated directly, thus leading to higher energy efficiency and higher production speed. This paper describes specifically a microwave applicator operating at a frequency of 2.45GHz for pultrusion of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) in the shape of a circular rod. This applicator was simulated and it was built. First experiments were carried out, of which the results are also presented.