This year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Metis Design Corp. collaborated to demonstrate an “out-of-oven” composite curing process that addresses the limitations of conventional oven- and autoclave-based processes. Those drawbacks include poor energy efficiency, high operational cost, long cure times and geometrical constraints on the components to be cured. In August, the team demonstrated carbon nanotube heaters for conductively curing composite structures without an oven, achieving equivalent thermophysical and mechanical performance to conventionally cured composites, while reducing cure time by 60% and energy consumption by two orders of magnitude. The team believes that this process contributes to the design and manufacturing of next-generation multifunctional architectures by leveraging nanoengineered laminate capabilities such as sensing, structural health monitoring and ice protection systems.
The research from our necstlab team & Metis partners has also been featured on the MIT News website as of 13 January 2020. Read more about us here : http://news.mit.edu/2020/carbon-nanotubes-making-airplane-aerospace-parts-1013
https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/year-in-review/unique-material-innovations-red…