Effect of cure on mechanical properties of a composite (Part 1 of 2) - A319
| Effect of cure on mechanical properties of a composite (Part 1 of 2) | |
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| Perspectives article | |
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| Document Type | Article |
| Document Identifier | 319 |
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Webinar Date
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Introduction[edit | edit source]
The motivation to achieve a ‘proper cure’ seems obvious or intuitive but what really happens if we don’t cure a thermoset composite properly? How does the degree of cure affect the mechanical properties of the material? How does the degree of cure affect the material’s ability to stand up to ‘hot’ conditions and/or ‘wet’ conditions?
In the first of this two-part webinar series, we discuss thermal management of the curing process and identify potential situations where a composite may be under-cured or thermally degraded (exposed to excessive temperature during cure). Then we look at the results of over 125 mechanical tests including tensile, compression, in-plane shear (Iosipescu), and short-beam shear (interlaminar shear strength) on specimens that have been significantly under cured, moderately under-cured, cured according to the manufacturer’s recommended cure cycle, and thermally degraded to identify the effect this has on mechanical properties. This data is compared to NCAMP data on the same material as a benchmark.
In the second part of this two-part webinar series (available at Effect of cure on mechanical properties of a composite (Part 2 of 2) - A320), we extend what was done in the first part to look at the effect on specimens that have been conditioned in moisture (‘wet’ condition) and tested at both ambient temperatures and elevated temperatures (‘hot’ condition), commonly referred to as ‘hot-wet’ conditions.
This work was done in collaboration with ZwickRoell and the Technical University of Munich. It was partially presented by Dr. Hannes Körber, Industry Manager Composites, ZwickRoell.
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 | |
| 4 | Review of thermal management | |
| 5 | Potential causes of thermal management problems | |
| 6 | Overview of case study for this webinar | N/A |
| 7 | Expectations for the test results | N/A |
| 8 | Overview of tensile testing procedure | |
| 9 | Overview of short beam shear testing procedure | |
| 10 | Overview of compression testing procedure | |
| 11 | Overview of in-plane shear testing procedure | |
| 12 | Analytical characterization results (DOC & Tg) | |
| 13 | Results of tensile testing | |
| 14 | Results of short beam shear testing | |
| 15 | Results of compression testing | |
| 16 | Results of in-plane shear testing | |
| 17 | Summary & wrap-up | N/A |
| 18 | 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.
