The application of carbon fiber reinforced composite mold greatly reduces the cure-induced distortion f composite parts

because the mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients between mold–part can be decreased. The self-heating technology of the composite mold is essential to achieving a high-quality and high-efficiency curing process. However

the existing self-heating methods are difficult to avoid introducing a large number of heating elements and cables

which lead to mold structure failure and a shortened life after repeated thermal cycles. In this paper

a multi-zoned selfheating technology of composite mold based on an electrically anisotropic laminate structure is proposed. By inserting an isolation layer into the carbon fiber laminate

an unidirectional conductive laminate structure is formed

and several stripshaped heating areas that can be independently temperature-controlled are achieved by feeding located electrical current. Finally

the multi-zoned temperature control of the mold temperature field without introducing any heating elements and cables is achieved. Compared with the traditional self-heating tool

the in-plane temperature uniformity of this work is improved by 92.1%

and the spring-in of the cured C-shaped part is reduced by 27.0%. The multi-zoned self-heating composite mold has matched thermal expansion coefficients and can achieve precise temperature control of parts

which provides a new solution for the high-quality and efficient curing process.