Fast cure of stable semi-pregs via VBO cure
To address the need for increased efficiency in high performance composite processing, a vacuum bag only (VBO) semi-preg was designed, modeled, and evaluated. The semi-preg featured a vinyl hybrid resin formulated for rapid cure. A model was developed to describe the kinetic behavior of the resin, a...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Language: | EN |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doaj.org/article/557e48e2c6684367b55d87e2d8aa3c69 |
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| Summary: | To address the need for increased efficiency in high performance composite processing, a vacuum bag only (VBO) semi-preg was designed, modeled, and evaluated. The semi-preg featured a vinyl hybrid resin formulated for rapid cure. A model was developed to describe the kinetic behavior of the resin, and then was employed to guide the design of efficient cure cycles. The semi-preg featured a discontinuous distribution of resin on the fiber bed. The format imparted high through-thickness air permeability by virtue of the multitude of air evacuation pathways with short breath-out distances relative to conventional out-of-autoclave prepregs (OoA). The kinetic model was used to create a test matrix of panels from the semi-pregs. Microstructural quality, interlaminar shear strength, and glass transition temperature were compared to a control panel with a longer, conventional cure cycle. The results demonstrated that fast-cure resins can be used in conjunction with cure modeling and semi-preg formats to design appropriate VBO cure cycles that consistently yield parts with low defect contents without autoclaves. |
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