Understanding Polyester Resin Processing: The Effect of Ambient Temperature on the Final Part - A286
| Understanding Polyester Resin Processing: The Effect of Ambient Temperature on the Final Part | |
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| Perspectives article | |
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| Document Type | Article |
| Document Identifier | 286 |
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Webinar Date
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Introduction[edit | edit source]
Controlling the curing parameters of resin, often referred to as thermal management, has a significant effect on the outcome of a thermoset polyester resin and therefore the overall performance of a composite part.
Allowing polyester resin to cure under ambient conditions is the most common technique used in industry. One major drawback of this technique, however, is the lack of control over temperature during the process. Often parts are cured in a facility with little temperature control leaving them susceptible to temperature variation throughout the day, week, month, and year. For example, the outcome of a composite part cured at room temperature in the winter may be different from a part cured in the summer.
In this webinar we will show the effect of ambient temperature on the cure of a polyester resin through experiment and simulation, discuss how this can affect the part, and present techniques to control it.
Webinar[edit | edit source]
Webinar slides[edit | edit source]
Webinar slides available by clicking on the icon below
Additional information for select chapters[edit | edit source]
| Chapter | Chapter Title | Links to related information in the Knowledge in Practice Centre |
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| 1 | Welcome & introductions | N/A |
| 2 | Knowledge in Practice Centre | |
| 3 | Overview of webinar | N/A |
| 4 | Outline and learning objectives | N/A |
| 5 | Introduction to polyester resins and processing | |
| 6 | Polyester resin curing | |
| 7 | Degree of cure and heat of reaction | |
| 8 | Glass transition temperature | |
| 9 | Curing control methods (knobs) | |
| 10 | Polyester resin in the context of MSTEP | |
| 11 | Polyester resin cure simulation | |
| 12 | Effect of part thickness on polyester cure |
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| 13 | Effect of airflow (convection) on polyester cure | |
| 14 | Effect of tooling material on polyester cure | |
| 15 | Effect of tooling thickness on polyester cure | |
| 16 | Effect of resin temperature on polyester cure | |
| 17 | Experimental overview - Effect of ambient temp. | |
| 18 | Experimental results - Effect of ambient temp. | |
| 19 | Experimental results - Key take-aways | |
| 20 | Industrial case study - Effect of ambient temp. | |
| 21 | Stragegies for managing polyester cure | N/A |
| 22 | Industrial case study - temp. effect on infusion | N/A |
| 23 | Summary & wrap-up | N/A |
| 24 | Q&A | N/A |
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| About | Help |
Welcome
Welcome to the CKN Knowledge in Practice Centre (KPC). The KPC is a resource for learning and applying scientific knowledge to the practice of composites manufacturing. As you navigate around the KPC, refer back to the information on this right-hand pane as a resource for understanding the intricacies of composites processing and why the KPC is laid out in the way that it is. The following video explains the KPC approach:
Understanding Composites Processing
The Knowledge in Practice Centre (KPC) is centered around a structured method of thinking about composite material manufacturing. From the top down, the heirarchy consists of:
- The factory
- Factory cells and/or the factory layout
- Process steps (embodied in the factory process flow) consisting of:
The way that the material, shape, tooling & consumables and equipment (abbreviated as MSTE) interact with each other during a process step is critical to the outcome of the manufacturing step, and ultimately critical to the quality of the finished part. The interactions between MSTE during a process step can be numerous and complex, but the Knowledge in Practice Centre aims to make you aware of these interactions, understand how one parameter affects another, and understand how to analyze the problem using a systems based approach. Using this approach, the factory can then be developed with a complete understanding and control of all interactions.
Interrelationship of Function, Shape, Material & Process
Design for manufacturing is critical to ensuring the producibility of a part. Trouble arises when it is considered too late or not at all in the design process. Conversely, process design (controlling the interactions between shape, material, tooling & consumables and equipment to achieve a desired outcome) must always consider the shape and material of the part. Ashby has developed and popularized the approach linking design (function) to the choice of material and shape, which influence the process selected and vice versa, as shown below:
Within the Knowledge in Practice Centre the same methodology is applied but the process is more fully defined by also explicitly calling out the equipment and tooling & consumables. Note that in common usage, a process which consists of many steps can be arbitrarily defined by just one step, e.g. "spray-up". Though convenient, this can be misleading.
Workflows
The KPC's Practice and Case Study volumes consist of three types of workflows:
- Development - Analyzing the interactions between MSTE in the process steps to make decisions on processing parameters and understanding how the process steps and factory cells fit within the factory.
- Troubleshooting - Guiding you to possible causes of processing issues affecting either cost, rate or quality and directing you to the most appropriate development workflow to improve the process
- Optimization - An expansion on the development workflows where a larger number of options are considered to achieve the best mixture of cost, rate & quality for your application.
