Correlation between the state of cure of thermosetting resins and their properties

Thermosetting resins, in the same way as polymers, are more and more used for coating metal sheets, in order to bring various interesting properties. An important problem arises with the cure of the thermoset, the process of cure being complex with heating conduction and convection and the heat generated by the cure reaction. The kinetics of the heat evolved from the overall cure reaction is determined through calorimetry experiments in scanning mode. The state of cure at time t is expressed by the heat generated by reaction up to time t as a fraction of the total heat generated. A numerical model taking all the facts into account is able to evaluate the profile of the state of cure developed through the thickness of the thermoset. The state of cure which derives from a theoretical point of view is correlated with some properties of interest for the coating, such as the hardness and the resistance to liquids. The resistance to water and ethanol is evaluated by determining the kinetics of absorption which is controlled by diffusion. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics