Prediction of thermal and fire resistance of phenolic resins by dynamic TGanalysis

industrial phenolic resins, normally used with acid catalyst, have been for mulated into auto-catalyzed resins for B-stage prepreg production. Multi-co mponent formulations have been prepared into three classes. A, B and C, sho wing fast (2-4 days), medium (7-9 days) and slow (14-18 days) thickening pr ocess, at room temperature. To optimize the formulations as a function of t hermal and fire resistance, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG), has been used. Cured samples from A, B and C classes, scanned from room temperature to 65 0 degrees C, showed different thermal resistance as expressed by the weight loss.