Effect of pulling speed on the sizes of the liquid, gel and solid zone during thermoset pultrusion

The temperature and the degree of cure distributions inside a thermoset com posite profile during the pultrusion process are calculated numerically usi ng the finite difference method. The degrees of cure at the beginning of th e gel and the solid zones i.e., alpha (GL) and alpha (GS) are determined us ing appropriate experimental techniques. These results enabled us to predic t the location and the size of the liquid, gel and solid zones inside a pul trusion die. It is found that the pulling speed affects the size and the po sition of each zone considerably. The relationships between the sizes of th ese zones and the pull-force is discussed.