Curing process of prepreg

The E' and tan delta of a composite (prepreg) is shown going through the curing process. Using the segment programme, the user can perform complex annealing, heating and cooling regimes to investigate curing processes of composites by following the changes in visco-elastic behaviour.

Temperature dependence of a reinforced polymer (composite)
Tensile device

The figure shows the complex modulus |E*| and the loss factor tan delta of a glass fibre reinforced polymer system in function of the temperature. At approx. 0 °C the polymer matrix undergoes the glass transition, whereas the final softening can be observed at approx. 140 °C. The modulus drops down about more the five magnitudes of order on a logarithmic scale. As can be expected, tan delta increases with rising temperature, indicating a change from a pure elastic to a viscous material. The heating rate was 2 °C/min with a test frequency of 10 Hz.