New Developments In Electron Beam Curing At Aerospatiale

In 1979, Aerospatiale Espace et Defense got interested in alternate curing methods
to thermal polymerization, to reduce the production cycles, the energy consumption for
curing and ultimately the costs of composite structures. In 1992, Unipolis, Aerospatiale
industrial electron or X -ray curing unit started operating, fulfillment of 14 years or
intensive R&D work (1, 2).

Originally dedicated to the manufacturing of filament wound motorcases for the
French deterrent force, Unipolis is today used for a variety of composite parts. A good
illustration of the wide range of application of EB curing is currently provided by the
Technicopolis Brite Euram Project. This program, aiming at demonstrating the cost
efficiency of EB curing, regroups 10 partners: