Kinetic studies of a composite thermoset cure reaction—application in pultrusion simulations

Abstract

A mechanistic kinetic model based on the concept of free radical polymerization and corrected for diffusion controlled reactions was used to describe the curing behavior of an unsaturated polyester resin. Kinetic parameters for the model were obtained from dynamic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) scans using a multiple regression technique. The presence of kaolinite or fiber glass in the system does not affect the progression of the reaction. The results obtained from the kinetic studies were used to simulate the influence of system composition on temperature and conversion profiles inside a pultrusion die. The results of the simulations show that kaolinite and fiber glass act as heat sinks for the composite system reducing the peak exotherm and delaying curing progression.

Determination of activation energy and preexponential factor of thermoset reaction kinetics using differential scanning calorimetry in scanning mode: Influence of baseline shape on different calculation methods

“…But it is obvious that the heat of reaction slightly decreases when increasing the scanning rate, which is consistent with reported observations made on different chemical systems. 19,20 In fact, because of the shape of the thermogram, it is obvious that most of the heat is evolved around the maximum T max , which does not vary too much for scanning rates between 2 and 15°C/min (see Table I); this explains the fact that the heat evolved during the reaction Q Ϸ ⌬ r H(T max ) is a constant with Q ϭ ͐ 0 1 ⌬ r H(␣, T)d␣. However, it may be pointed out that the value of ⌬H DSCscan is not equal to Q.…”

Experimental characterization of a curing thermoset epoxy‐anhydride system—Isothermal and nonisothermal cure kinetics

“…Several phenomenological and mechanistic models have been proposed to describe thermoset cure kinetics 8–19. Epoxy cure is a complicated process and the reaction mechanism is still subject of considerable research.…”

Predicting the surface waviness of sheet moulding compound parts by simulating process-induced thermal stresses

“…In this paper, the mechanistic approach of Ng and Manas-Zloczower [10,11] is employed to describe the chemical reaction. This approach provides the opportunity to investigate the infl uence of initiator or inhibitor concentration on the curing reaction in detail without defi ning new model parameters in differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses.…”