Researchers Jounghwan Lee, Richard Grainger and Kevin Mee were part of a team that won the JEC Asia award for innovation in automotive applications for their work on developing a composite acoustic cover for a car engine bay that can be cured in an industrial microwave.
The AMRC team carried out the research in partnership with the Korea Institute of Carbon Convergence Technology (KCTECH) and the Ssangyoung Motor Company.
“It was great to win this prestigious award for our first collaboration with KCTECH,” said Jounghwan Lee. “Microwave curing is a new technology, which has only been used for simple shapes in the past.”
Microwave curing
According to Lee, microwave curing offers a number of benefits over more traditional curing methods using ovens or autoclaves, where components are subject to pressure, as well as heat.
Energy costs and the time taken to cure the composite components are substantially reduced as microwave energy penetrates into the material and energy is not wasted heating the rest of the oven.
Using microwaves reduced curing time and energy consumption by up to 30% for the acoustic cover and further gains are expected following additional research.
The Center is now working on a further project with KCTECH to develop a manufacturing process to make automotive leaf springs using composite materials, which could be lighter and more energy efficient.
