Solid epoxy resin systems for automated composite manufacturing

Yousefi, Neptun; Evans, Anthony D.; Harper, Lee T.; Maples, Henry A.; James, Thomas; Bismarck, Alexander

Abstract

© 2020 The Author(s) Thermosetting resins were formulated by mixing solid epoxy components, hardener and accelerator at elevated temperature. These mixtures were ground into uncured, solid resin powders and dispensed onto carbon fibres using a powder printer prior to vacuum curing. Using accelerators reduced curing time from 8 h to 16 min. Manufactured cross-ply carbon fibre laminates (0°/90°/0°) had comparable mechanical properties to composites manufactured using a liquid resin system. Tack behaviour of solid epoxy resin formulations was investigated and results compared to a conventional liquid resin system. Master curves of the storage and loss moduli of both solid and liquid resin formulations were generated by applying time-temperature superposition to shear moduli between 1 and 100 rad/s at multiple temperatures. This approach was used to determine optimum processing parameters to enable resin tack for automated fibre placement, demonstrating the importance of temperature control with respect to deposition rates.

Citation

Yousefi, N., Evans, A. D., Harper, L. T., Maples, H. A., James, T., & Bismarck, A. (2021). Solid epoxy resin systems for automated composite manufacturing. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 142, Article 106205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2020.106205

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 16, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 13, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Deposit Date: Dec 21, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 6, 2021
• Journal: Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
• Print ISSN: 1359-835X
• Electronic ISSN: 1878-5840
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 142
• Article Number: 106205
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2020.106205
• Keywords: Mechanics of Materials; Ceramics and Composites
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5157239
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359835X20304425
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Solid epoxy resin systems for automated composite manufacturing; Journal Title: Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2020.106205; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.