Accelerated cure of thermoset fiber composites utilizing latent cure agents

Cure agents including micro-pulverized dicyandiamide, aliphatic amine, imid azole, dyhydrazide, and ureas have been formulated with DGEBA (diglycidyl e ther of bisphenol-A) epoxides to provide preimpregnated fiberglass prepregs suitable for the rapid production of structural composites under an aggres sive elevated temperature cure schedule (10 min at 110 degreesC). Formulati ons have been developed utilizing in part Taguchi orthogonal experimental a rrays and compared to existing chemistries. Chemical formulation properties including heat of reaction, viscosity, glass transition, process parameter determination, and impact of environmental exposure have been investigated . Formulations developed within this body of work appear to outperform curr ent commercial systems for the production of structural composites rapidly processed at a relatively low temperature. (C) 2001 Kluwer Academic Publish ers.