CURE KINETICS AND STRUCTURE-PROPERTYPROCESSING RELATIONSHIPS OF A TOUGHENED EPOXY SYSTEM FOR FILAMENT WOUND COMPOSITE PRESSURE VESSELS

摘要

Composite pressure vessels represent an excellent choice for compressed gas storage when compared to metal tanks due to their light weight, durability, and corrosion resistance. Epoxy resins intended for such composite applications would need to balance an array of requirements including processability, pot life, reactivity, and thermomechanical properties after cure. In particular, elucidating the underlying cure mechanisms and identifying optimum cure schedules that can ensure complete resin cure in a timely manner is critical to balance performance and productivity. In this work, the cure kinetics of a toughened, low viscosity epoxy system intended for composite pressure vessel applications will be investigated using DSC measurements and isoconversional analysis. The structure-property-processing relationships between the degree of cure, thermal, and mechanical properties will be explored further.