ELECTRICAL SENSING OF SHELF-CURE PROPERTIES OF POLYMERIC PREPREG MATERIALS

Most polymeric thermoset materials change (cure) slowly as they lie in storage; a prime example of this is composite prepreg materials. Thes e changes are generally vitrification, and are not readily observable using some of the standard cure-monitoring methods, such as DSC and FT IR, which sense mainly the gelation process. Evidence of this observat ion is presented, along with the successful results of an effort to mo nitor this shelf-cure process using a simplified resistivity meter. (C ) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.