This research presents a case study of production monitoring on an aerospace composite component: the hinge arm of the droop nose mechanism on the Airbus A380 wing leading edge. A sensor network composed of Fibre Bragg Gratings, capacitive sensors for cure monitoring and thermocouples was embedded in its fibre reinforced lay-up and measurements were acquired throughout its Resin Transfer Mouldi...

resin transfer molding (rtm) is a composite manufacturing process. a preformed fiber is placed in a closed mold and a viscous resin is injected into the mold. in this paper, a model is developed to predict the flow pattern, extent of reaction and temperature change during filling and curing in a thin rectangular mold. a numerical simulation is presented to predict the free surface and its inter...

epoxy – polysulfide copolymers without or with low amounts of epoxy in their structure have poor mechanical properties in oxidative curing system.to strengthen the mechanical properties of polysulfide elastomer inclusion of epoxy resin (epon828) as hard segment was studied. ft-ir spectroscopy and rheometry were used to verify the formation of epoxy-polysulfide copolymer.  results obtained from ...

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomers are extensively used for soft lithographic replication of microstructures in microfluidic and micro-engineering applications. Elastomeric microstructures are commonly required to fulfil an explicit mechanical role and accordingly their mechanical properties can critically affect device performance. The mechanical properties of elastomers are known to vary ...

Prepregs of a mixture of the tetrafunctional epoxy tetraglycidyl 4.4-diaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM) and the tetrafunctional amine 4.4'-diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) were characterized with temperature-modulated DSC (TMDSC) as well as dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The baseline shift of the glass transition was separated from the curing exotherm by using temperature-modulated and step scan D...

Pulpal temperature changes induced by modern high powered light emitting diodes (LEDs) are of concern when used to cure composite resins. This study showed an increase in pulp chamber temperature with an increase in power density for all light cure units (LCU) when used to bulk cure composite resin. Amongst the three LEDs tested, the Elipar Freelight-2 recorded the highest temperature changes. ...

Rigidization of inflatable space structures via internal resistive heating requires carbon fiber reinforced material to consolidate and cure on-command. In terms of the spacecraft’s life, the rigidization process transforms a structurally weak “balloon” into a robust, stable design. Internal resistive heating provides an active approach for inducing permanent shapeholding and structural stiffen...

The Karstedt-catalyzed hydrosilylation reaction used in curing of silicone release coatings was investigated using first-principle quantum mechanical techniques (density functional theory) as well as semiempirical methods to estimate solubility parameters. The results we obtain for the catalytic cycle indicate, in agreement with experimental results, that hydrosilylation occurs easily at room t...

The reaction of a tannin extract (containing about 30"/0 carbohydrate) from loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) bark (two parts) and resorcinol (one part) at 12O"C for 24 h with acetic acid catalyst gave a product containing predominantly oligomeric procyanidin-4-resorcinol adducts (3Wo), unreacted resorcinol (22%). carbohydrate (20010). the resorcinol adduct 2R,3R,4S 4-(2.4-dihydroxyphenyl).fIavan-...

This paper aims at making a study on the bonding properties of birch with API adhesive. A non-formaldehyde adhesive to improve the bonding strength and water resistance of the emulsion was investigated. The adhesive was a composite system that was formulated from polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) emulsion, PVA, isocyanate and some other additives. In this study the effect of isocyanate at room temperatu...