Abstract
This study presents the cure kinetics and the cure modelling of an ambient curing unsaturated polyester (UP) resin system for the simulation of its curing in the vacuum infusion (VI) process. The curing of the thermoset resin system was investigated using the Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) method. The dynamic DSC test measurements were conducted to find out the ultimate heat of reaction and enable experimental conversion determination for the isothermal curing. The empirical autocatalytic cure kinetics model incorporating the Arrhenius law represented the cure behaviour.
The results of the cure kinetics study, the cure model, the material properties and the boundary conditions were the inputs in PAM-RTM software to simulate the degree of cure and the temperature during the infusion and the room temperature curing stages. The simulation results were compared with the experimentally measured data. A vacuum infusion experiment involving a non-crimp glass fibre preform was performed in order to identify a typical filling time to aid the simulation, and monitor the curing using thermocouples to validate the temperature simulation. It was shown that the degree of cure and the exothermic temperature of a room temperature curing thermoset resin system in the VI process could be predicted through the steps of this study.