![]() ![]() For that reason, working life can vary from application to application, and even by the application method of the epoxy, so there is no uniform method for quantifying this property. Working life, on the other hand, is the amount of time an epoxy remains low enough in viscosity that it can still be easily applied to a part or substrate in a particular application. Timing starts from the moment the product is mixed, and is measured at room temperature. Pot life is defined as the amount of time it takes for an initial mixed viscosity to double, or quadruple for lower viscosity products (1000 cPs). Pot life and working life are often taken to mean the same thing, but that is not always the case. Even more than for aircraft, the safety requirements for spacecraft are paramount and cure monitoring can document that a life and mission critical component was manufactured to specification. Spacecraft components such as fuselages and heat shields use composites because of their unique combination of high strength and low weight. Cure monitoring provides information for adjusting the process temperature, therefore ensuring that a large part cures uniformly. In aerospace applications, different sections of single, large composite parts can cure at different rates because of varying thicknesses and thermal conditions. Many aerospace projects use composite materials because they are very light and very strong. ![]() The most interesting manufacturing applications are often with the ultimate end users of thermosets and polymers. These properties ensure TPCs are in high demand as they allow designers to create lighter aircraft, faster cars, and stronger oil and gas pipes, windmills and turbines.įor the manufacturers of SMC/BMC and prepregs, cure monitoring is largely used to check consistency of the product, as assurance to their customers that these products will cure as expected. TPCs offer OEMs a unique opportunity to replace metals such as steel and aluminum with a lightweight and advanced material that offers excellent formability, corrosion resistance, and strength. In the development of raw resins, thermoplastic composites (TPCs) and thermosets, cure monitoring allows a researcher to see how the material cures, how fast it cures in response to different formulations, how the reaction responds to the additions of catalysts or additives, and how the reaction rate changes at different temperatures. Major application areas are aircrafts, automobile parts, missile technology, high speed machinery, equipment parts and building constructions. Manufacturing applications – aerospace, wind energy, automotive This is important in molding operations to determine when it is safe to demold the cured part and in composite manufacturing to determine when a laminated part is fully cured. Monitoring of the degree of cure of adhesives and resins is important for determining whether a particular batch of material has achieved the necessary mechanical properties, rather than just relying on manufacturers’ specifications and adjustment of process parameters. ![]()
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