Accelerated Thermal Curing of Diglycidylether of Bisphenol A /Diamino Diphenyl Sulfone (DEGBA/DDS) Epoxy Resin System

摘要

Isothermal curing of high temperature epoxies has been well documented and is currently applied in manufacturing processes. This study aims to shorten the curing time of high temperature epoxies via a series of short incremental stepwise increase in curing temperatures. The stepwise temperature increase programme were based on isothermal studies performed on the thermosets. This heating regime was implemented to overcome retardation in cure rates due to the onset of vitrification. Using a dual-step cure profile, the time for complete cure of the DEGBA/DDS system was reduced by as much as 66% with a significantly higher T_g than would be obtained had the system been cured isothermally. This significant reduction in curing time is achieved probably through delaying the onset of vitrification.