Basic Study on Chemical Diffusion in Curing Process of Composite Materials under Compression Molding

Abstract

The curing process of molding compounds such as BMC under compression molding is shown to be predictable by taking the following procedures.
(1) The temperature-time curves of BMC are determined from a series of tests.
(2) FEM analysis is applied to calculate heat conduction in the compound for the case that heat generation is neglected.
(3) By combining above two results, the heat generation rate of BMC during the curing process is determined.
(4) By employing the heat generation rate of BMC, FEM analysis is conducted to clarify the unsteady heat conduction in BMC during compression molding. The temperature vs. time curve thus obtained is in good agreement with the test result.
(5) Finally, the curing process can be predicted by using the result of the analysis on the assumption that the resin cures sufficiently well when the cumulative heat generation reaches 80% of the total generation of heat.