Curing is the irreversible change in the physical properties of a thermosetting resin brought about by a chemical reaction, condensation, ring closure, or addition. This article discusses the material types and functions of various components considered in the preparation for curing. It presents a discussion on the major elements of an autoclave system, namely, pressure vessel, gas stream heating and circulation sources, gas stream pressurizing systems, loading systems, and vacuum systems. The article describes a computerized approach to the simultaneous control of materials reaction behavior and consolidation dynamics, using an autoclave as the reaction vessel.

This article discusses the attempts made by the industry to create sensing approaches for modeling a process, part, and chemistry and kinetics. It reviews microwave curing of thick-section composites and the resin cure sensors that are used for resin cure monitoring. These include dielectric cure sensors, fiberoptics-based resin cure sensors, ultrasonics-based resin cure sensors, and dosimetry-based resin cure sensors. The article provides information on the resin cure control flow sensing, flow modeling, flow mapping, and resin flow. It addresses some practical issues in sensing resin cure and flow.