Rapid prediction of temperature distributions in composite curing processes based on transformation optics

The temperature distributions in composite components during curing play a pivotal role in determining their quality and performance. Accurate prediction of temperature fields is essential for optimizing curing processes and ensuring product integrity. Finite element method (FEM)-based numerical simulations are widely used for this purpose. However, the presence of large spatial scale differences in composites often produces excessive meshes, significantly increasing computational costs and reducing simulation efficiency. Here, a transformation optics-based simulation method is introduced for the first time to achieve rapid prediction of temperature distributions in composite curing processes. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, two types of numerical models were established to simulate temperature distributions in composites during curing: one based on conventional oven curing, involving thermal parameter transformation; and the other based on the emerging microwave curing technology, involving more complex transformations of both electromagnetic and thermal parameters. By applying the transformation optics-based method, the computation time can be reduced by over 75.45 % for the oven curing model and 77.21 % for the microwave curing model, while maintaining comparable accuracy to the conventional method for composite structures with various geometries. These results confirm the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method, with potential applications in microwave-assisted manufacturing and thermal management, and other related fields.