Vinyl-Ester (VE) Cure Characterization Via Direct Current Sensors

Abstract

.High-performance thermosetting composites typically consist of a high-modulus fibrous material embedded in a thermosetting polymer matrix. The behavior of the resulting composite depends on the properties of the reinforcement, the interphase, and the matrix. Vinyl-ester (VE) resins are relatively low-cost matrix resins used in liquid molding of large structures such as contiguous vehicle huUs. In liquid-molding processes, quality-control sensors can ensure resin impregnation of the preform and cure of the resin after infiltration. For these purposes, SMARTweave (SW), based on direct current (DC) sensing, is used as an in-situ flow-front detection and curemonitoring system. SW measures change in the ionic conductivity with cure, which can then be related to the material properties like viscosity and degree of cure. This enables in-situ measurement of degree of cure and viscosity development during cure from SW measurements. This report builds on previous modeling work that assumed a direct dependence of DC resistance on the resin viscosity, limiting the use of such models beyond gelation. This report presents a continuum model based on free volume theory to describe ionic conductivity through gelation to vitrification.