A Post-Cure Study of Glass/Vinyl Ester Laminates Fabricated by Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding.

Abstract

A post-cure study was made of a vinyl ester laminate fabricated by vacuum assisted resin transfer molding. One day after fabrication the glass transition temperature (Tg) was about 154 F and the flexural strength was 52 ksi, which are low values. With time at room temperature, however, both strength and Tg increased to acceptable levels. Room temperature post-curing increased the Tg to about 200 F and the flexural strength to 78 ksi. In addition it was found that the resin cures very rapidly at elevated temperature, which allows the resin Tg to remain above the temperature of the environment for most heating rates. Based on increases in strength and Tg due to post-curing reactions at ambient temperature and the rapid increase in Tg with the temperature of the environment, we concluded that post-curing of structures fabricated by VARTM is not necessary. (MM)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1995
Accession Number
ADA298742

Entities

People

  • Steve Mayes
  • Thomas Juska

Organizations

  • Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Composite Material Fabrication
  • Environment
  • Fabrication
  • Flexural Strength
  • Glass
  • Glass Transition Temperature
  • Laminates
  • Material Forming Processes
  • Materials
  • Materials Processing
  • Moldings
  • Resin Transfer Molding
  • Structural Components
  • Transition Temperature
  • Transitions

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Polymer Science and Technology
  • Reinforced Composite Materials