Thermo-chemical response of vinyl-ester resin

This paper presents the thermo-chemical characterization of Dow Derakane 41 1-C50 commercial vinyl-ester resin at low temperatures (20 degreesC to 40 d egreesC). Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Torsional Braid Analy sis (TBA) are the experimental techniques used to characterize the material behavior. The cure kinetics are studied using DSC and are modeled using a modified autocatalytic equation with a maximum degree-of-cure term. Also, t he effect of inhibitors in the resin system is accounted for by an inhibito r depletion model. The glass transition temperature (T-g) is also character ized using TEA and related to the degree of cure. It was found that the T-g and the degree of cure do not exhibit a linear relationship for this resin system. The findings presented in this work provide information for accura te cure modeling and process simulation of vinyl-ester materials.