Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Adewuyi, Olalekan Sunday
Author's Email Address	osa06@fsu.edu
URN	etd-05092009-001141
Title	Optimization Of Ultraviolet Lamp Placement For The Curing Of Composites Manufactured By The Resin Infusion Between Double Flexible Tooling (RIDFT) Process
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Okenwa Okoli Committee Chair David Jack Committee Member Samuel Awoniyi Committee Member
Keywords	Photoinitiator Forming
Date of Defense	2009-04-10
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract The ultraviolet curing technique, when applied to composite manufacturing processes, allows UV rays to radiate the component reducing the curing time of composite materials from hours to minutes. This technique has been demonstrated with the Resin Infusion between Double Flexible Tooling (RIDFT) process for flat components. However, the curing of composites other than flat components remains a challenge. Applying UV curing to three-dimensional geometries mostly requires utilization of several lamps positioned around the component. Not only is this expensive, but it may allow for UV exposure overlap resulting in excessive curing of some areas on the component. Trial-and-error positioning, utilization of large arrays of UV lamps with components moving on a conveyor, and robotically actuated UV lamps have been employed in some quarters. These methods are too expensive, time consuming, and complex, thus negating the idea of simplicity that composite manufacturing processes tend to portray. To tackle this problem, a general-purpose model was proposed.Solving this model involves two stages: numerical integration using Gauss quadrature method, and optimization problem using Davidon-Fletcher Powell (DFP) algorithm. The model predicts the UV lamps' optimum positions and generates the UV intensity on the predefined sections on the composite substrates. Furthermore, three-dimensional composite materials were manufactured using different manufacturing parameters. Mechanical and rheological tests were carried out to determine uniformity of curing; the results of these tests were compared with three-dimensional catalytic cured composite components. The UV cured composites have mechanical properties that are comparable with the catalytic cured composite.
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