Thermoplastic additives tend to promote the phase separation during the reaction of unsaturated polyester resins. Consequently, they reduce the amount of shrinkage during curing. Several thermoplastic additives which resulted in significant different microstructure of cured resins were investigated. The effects of microstructure formation on the sol-gel transition, reaction kinetics, and gelation time were studied. The mechanism of microstructure formation and causes of macro-gelation were explained by the influence of thermoplastic additives on the particle formation rate and inter-particle reaction rate during curing.

SYNOPSISTwo dilatometers are presented here that were developed for the use with, but not limited to, low-shrink unsaturated polyester resins. One of the dilatometers, made from a glass syringe and two aluminum plates, was limited to lower pressures. The other dilatometer, similar in design to the first, was made from a hydraulic cylinder and was capable of pressures to 500 psi. The dilatometers were calibrated and tested by the polymerization of styrene. Several low-shrink unsaturated polyester resins were cured in the dilatometers and the results of these experiments are given. The interactions of volume change, rheology change, conversion, and microstructure formation were also measured. Finally, the effect of pressure was considered.

An in-house-built and designed dilatometer was applied to the study of low profile unsaturated polyester resins. This article first describes the dilatometer used including its calibration then its application to low profile unsaturated polyester resins. Several series of dilatometry experiments were performed, to study the effect of low profile additive concentration and cure temperature on shrinkage control. Scanning electron micro-graphs of the samples were also prepared to show the correlation between shrinkage control and polymer morphol-O D .

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