Product category:
Adhesives and adhesive bonding equipment
News Release from: Smithers Rapra | Subject: Cure Monitoring for Composites and Adhesives
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 03 October 2003
Cure monitoring - report is now
available
Cure monitoring techniques can prevent wastage due to failure of resin to react, use of incorrect proportions of resin components, poor mixing of resin, or incorrect processing conditions.
Cure monitoring techniques are used to improve the efficiency of processing, for quality assurance and to study the curing process Such cure studies can prevent wastage due to failure of resin to react, use of incorrect proportions of resin components, poor mixing of resin, or incorrect processing conditions
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 25 Apr 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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The latest Rapra Review Report Cure Monitoring for Composites and Adhesives focuses on in-line cure monitoring as a key way of optimising production.
Composite manufacturing methods vary from labour intensive techniques such as hand lay-up to capital-intensive techniques such as autoclaving.
The basic curing process is the same in each case: the liquid resin first gels and then becomes a glassy solid.
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If the curing process carries on for too long, degradation of the material can occur.
On the other hand, if it does not proceed for long enough or at too low a temperature, insufficient curing takes place and the material properties are inadequate.
It is critical that the material remains in a more fluid state during the initial stages so that it can be readily manipulated, for example, in mould filling.
Thus it is useful to know when gelation occurs and viscosity increases.
The bulk of this review is devoted to coverage of the range of techniques used for cure monitoring.
These have been grouped in terms of the materials properties that are followed: thermal, mechanical, electrical, and optical.
Consideration is also given to other topics relevant to the implementation of cure monitoring processes.
Specific areas covered include process modelling, off-line cure assessment and quality assurance.
In this section the author also reviews the technical and practical issues associated with the various techniques.
Cure monitoring is an active area of research and industrial development and there are ongoing research programmes to develop new and existing techniques to benefit quality and efficiency.
Cure Monitoring for Composites and Adhesives provides an overview of the current practices.
It will prove a useful volume for composite and adhesive suppliers, processors and end-users, mould makers, and materials testing instrument suppliers.
The review is accompanied by around 300 abstracts from papers and books in the Rapra Polymer Library database, to facilitate further reading on this subject.
A subject index and a company index are included.
The author, Dr David Mulligan, is currently Project Manager in the Materials Centre of the National Physical Laboratory.
His work includes a Department of Trade and Industry sponsored study of 'Cure Monitoring for Shorter Cycle Times'.
He holds a doctorate in structure-property relationships in short-fibre materials and has worked as an applications scientist in industry.
Cure Monitoring for Composites and Adhesives retails at GBP 85 (plus postage and packaging).
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