I bought some out of date autoclave (just approaching its best before date) carbon from a supplier at a very good price, it would have been rude not to. Their help desk said that it could be used OOA if the following procedure was followed. Lay up first two layers, using a roller to compress the layers firmly together, then vacuum bag for 8 hours. Unbag and add next layers and repeat until all the carbon is in the mould. Vacuum up and place in oven. Bring up to 80 deg C and dwell for 30 minutes, then continue to desired curing temp and dwell for prescribed time.

However, not all autoclave carbon is the same so I suggest that you check with your supplier to see if your stuff is suitable for OOA.

If you do not have an autoclave, lets try some prepregs that are dedicated for OOA manufacturing (out of autoclave curing). Easy Composites have that products. You can have good results with OOA if the products do not have many curvatures.Complex products with many curvatures will need autoclaves. Here you can find some additional info: http://www.dexcraft.com/articles/carbon-fiber-composites/prepreg-autoclave/



Carbon fiber sheets and composites .
www.dexcraft.com

Hi,

Is it possible to cure prepregs that are supposed to be used in an autoclave using an oven? The manufacturer recommends 85 psi of autoclave pressure and 177 degrees C temperatures for curing and I'm wondering how critical the pressure is to achieve good results.