Frontal Polymerization of Dicyclopentadiene: A Numerical Study

Abstract

As frontal polymerization is being considered as a faster and more energy efficient manufacturing technique for polymer-matrix fiber-reinforced composites, we perform a finite-element-based numerical study of the initiation and propagation of a polymerization front in dicyclopentadiene (DCPD). The transient thermochemical simulations are complemented by an analytical study of the steady-state propagation of the polymerization front, allowing to draw a direct link between the cure kinetics model and the key characteristics of the front, i.e., front velocity and characteristic length scales. The second part of this study focuses on the prediction of the temperature spike associated with the merger of two polymerization fronts. The thermal peak, which might be detrimental to the properties of the polymerized material, is due to the inability of the heat associated with the highly exothermic reaction to be dissipated when the two fronts merge. The analysis investigates how the amplitude of the thermal spike is affected by the degree of cure at the time of the front merger.

Frontal polymerization accelerated by continuous conductive elements

“…They investigated the influence of the physicochemical properties of the resin and of the boundary conditions on the evolution of FP. We recently used finite element method to investigate the 1D transient and steady‐state propagations of a polymerization front in Dicyclopentadiene . Numerical modeling lends itself well to the complexity of FP in nonuniform material systems, allowing for the exploration of different sample geometries, materials, and chemical kinetics.…”

“…Let the nondimensional time be τ = A t . If the initial temperature is denoted by T 0 , the nondimensional temperature can be defined as where corresponds to the maximum temperature behind the polymerization front in the adiabatic, no‐wire case. Using the microchannel radius, R c , as the characteristic length, the nondimensional axial and radial coordinates are chosen as …”

Analytical estimates of front velocity in the frontal polymerization of thermoset polymers and composites

“…9,10 Simultaneously, theoretical and computational advances have been achieved in the modeling of this process. 11,12 These advances together have enabled a more energy-and timeefficient manufacturing of these materials with mechanical properties comparable to the traditionally manufactured materials used in many industrial applications. This work also finds its motivation in the application of FP to 3D printing and patterning.…”

“…12 These equations can be solved numerically in an arbitrary domain at all times by using the finite element or finite difference methods for space discretization and the finite difference method for time discretization. 11,16 Alternatively, several analytical estimates have been proposed in the literature [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] for quickly calculating the front velocity. These estimates are primarily based on the work of Novozhilov 26 who originally derived them for any exothermic condensed phase reaction.…”

Traveling-waves of metal-containing monomer polymerization without diffusion and heat-transfer

“…So far, mathematical modeling of the macro «traveling-waves» of chemical transformation has been made by means of reaction–diffusion equation, or (for exothermic processes) in the context of spatial thermal self-propagation sourced from heat of reaction [1, 2, 3, 4]. In general, the latter method is called self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) [1, 2].…”