In thermosetting, a material to become a crosslinked polymer, heat is transferred through a media such as air or the metal of a mold in order to initiate the molecular vibrations in the material which in turn causes a chemical reaction that results in an insoluble polymer network. Students learn thermodynamics in chemistry, heat transfer calculations in engineering courses. Considerable energy is lost in any thermal process by heating air, as in an autoclave, and the metal walls of an autoclave or mold. Thermal processes use only between 5% and at best 20% of the input energy to affect a thermoset cure.
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