Effect of dosage distribution on ilss of composite stepwise cured by low-energy electron beam

To reduce the cost of the e-beam curing composite manufacture, the minimum e-beam energy value to fabricate laminate stepwise cured on both-side irradiation is analyzed, and the effect of the dosage distribution on the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of carbon fiber/epoxy matrix composite is discussed. The experiments indicate that the uniform curing can be accounted for the preferred penetrating radiation while 125 keV is set as the radiation energy. Compared with the composite bearing equal irradiation on both side, the ILSS in composite bearing unequal irradiation can be enhanced by 7.5% (from 61.7 MPa to 66.3 MPa). The optical microscope, SEM and DSC observations reveal that the greater difference for ILSS results from the active functional group amount in interlayer determined by the distribution of radiation dosage.