ESTÜ Completes 'Composite Furnace' Project

Eskişehir Teknik Üniversitesi (ESTÜ) faculty members have completed an important project with their 'Composite Oven' initiative. A large-scale oven suitable for composite production, which had been in the university's inventory since 1993 but remained largely unused and idle, has been developed with university support and sponsor contributions and is now actively in operation. Engineering Faculty Associate Professor Abdullah Tuğrul Seyhan, Research Assistant İlhan Kahraman, and electrical technicians Feyzullah Gündoğan, Şamil Kaya and Hüsmen Orhan have implemented the composite oven project, which enables production across a wide range from aircraft seats to small and medium-sized materials for aircraft fuselages.

The composite oven renovated by Eskişehir Teknik Üniversitesi faculty members has the capability to apply both melting and firing methods used for obtaining composite materials together. What distinguishes this oven from other composite ovens is its non-autoclave technical applications.

Thanks to this technology, the oven, which heats up to 400 degrees, ensures that the material placed inside has a smooth and homogeneous surface. Associate Professor Seyhan from the Engineering Faculty, noting that the most important feature of the composite oven developed within this project is to distribute heat homogeneously and ensure that all surfaces of the sample being fired are cured equally, stated: "Carbon fiber, polymers, elastomers and textiles are common composite materials used in composite material production. The curing process for these composite materials generally involves keeping the resin-impregnated piece under vacuum while firing it in the oven. Ovens used to cure aerospace composite materials are specially designed for this purpose. Such industrial ovens have many electronic properties required to produce composite structures. One of these properties is a carefully designed computer-controlled air supply system. The most common air duct arrangement for composite ovens is referred to as 'combination air flow'. A combination that provides uniform heat distribution throughout the oven work chamber and faster precise heating rates and recovery times, air flow arrangement and computer-controlled high temperature are essential for the production of aerospace composites. Because composite curing requires homogeneous temperature. In other words, the absence of dead spots across the component during heating is important for the final mechanical properties of the obtained product," he said.

Potential Applications Across a Wide Range

Associate Professor Seyhan stated that thanks to the composite oven, production of epoxy and carbon-based composites can be achieved across a wide range from aircraft seats used in planes to mechanical components suitable for aircraft fuselages. He emphasized that the oven can heat up to 400 degrees and that this temperature under vacuum creates the conditions for producing thermoplastic and thermoset prepreg structures.