Investigation of foaming cell development for epoxy resin with blowing and curing agent by rheological properties

Abstract

The effects of the curing and blowing agent concentration in an epoxy resin were investigated using rheological, mechanical, and optical methods. The curing time from the time sweep test decreased with increasing amount of curing agent at the fixed blowing agent concentration. On the other hand, with increasing blowing agent at a fixed curing agent concentration, the curing time showed a local minimum value. Minimization of the curing time is very useful for reducing the processing time. Axial normal forces as a function of time showed a relationship between the contraction force by the curing process and the expansion force by foaming process. From the axial normal force measurements, it could be categorized quantitatively into three parts: the curing dominant region (negative axial normal force development), transition region, and the foaming dominant region (positive axial normal force development). At the transition region, the axial normal force development was delayed because the foaming process was disturbed by the contraction. Mechanical and structural analysis were conducted for the fully cured and foamed epoxy resin. The completely developed epoxy foams with the high curing agent concentration become brittle. On the other hand, they contained well-distributed unit cell foams inside. This is because the fast curing process interrupts the coalescence of the closed foams. Overall, the optimal curing and blowing agent concentration for the epoxy resin could be determined from rheological analysis during the process and mechanical and structural analysis for fully cured and foamed epoxy resin.