Curing rheological properties and process determination of low viscosity epoxy resin for RTM

Authors

  • Zhou Zhou Central South University, School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, The State Key Laboratory of High Performance and Complex Manufacturing, Changsha 410083, China
  • Bingyan Jiang Central South University, School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, The State Key Laboratory of High Performance and Complex Manufacturing, Changsha 410083, China
  • Fangfang He Central South University, School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, The State Key Laboratory of High Performance and Complex Manufacturing, Changsha 410083, China
  • Xingkai Chen Central South University, School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, The State Key Laboratory of High Performance and Complex Manufacturing, Changsha 410083, China

Keywords:

Resin transfer molding, Epoxy resin, DSC, Viscosity model, Rheological properties

Abstract

The quality of composite components made by Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) is determined by both the rheological properties of resin and the curing processes. In this paper, the dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC) method was utilized to study the curing kinetics of a low viscosity SR8100/SD8734 epoxy resin system which is used in aviation engineering. Curing reaction kinetics model was established with the reaction order n being 0.882 and the activation energy being 48.95kJ/mol. By using extrapolation methods, the optimized curing procedure was then determined as 95°C for 36min and then 110°C for 36min. Isothermal viscosity-time of SR8100/SD8734 epoxy resin system was studied with J S Yang’s empirical model, and the analytical results calculated agreed very well with the experimental data in the low viscosity stage(<800mPa·s). Prediction of the RTM processing window for SR8100/SD8734 epoxy resin system was established, which eventually will provide a test method of process optimization and theoretical basis for the application of RTM epoxy resin.

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Published

2025-08-11

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Technology Research

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.