Materials Characterisation of Glass/epoxy Composites - Focusing on Process Conditions

Predicting the behaviour of fibre reinforced polymer composites taking the process conditions into account involves advanced modelling techniques and an extensive materials characterisation. The materials characterisation of a chopped strand mat glass/epoxy composite has been the focus of this paper. The resin gelation has been investigated with two different experimental setups and the measurements are compared. A thermo-chemical material model for the in-plane Young’s modulus has been developed based on multiple DMA experiments and further presented in a modulus-temperature-transformation diagram. The viscoelastic behaviour for the fully cured composite materials was investigated and a master curve of the relaxation modulus was established