Study on the Cure Kinetics of Epoxy Resin Prepreg in Fiber Metal Laminates

To better analysis the curing behavior of a new kind of high temperature curing epoxy resin prepreg in fiber metal laminates (FMLs), dynamic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method was used to make the research on the curing process of the prepreg. The characteristic temperature of curing reaction and curing kinetics parameters of epoxy resin prepreg were systematically researched, and the cure kinetics equation was built. The cure kinetics model of the epoxy resin in the prepreg was determined by autocatalytic reaction model. The results showed that the reaction activation energy of the epoxy resin was 62.178kJ/mol and the reaction orders were 0.314 and 1.2157, the total reaction order was 1.5297. The optimum curing process was set at 180 degrees Cunder 0.6Mpa pressure for two hours, and the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of FMLs result was 69.75Mpa. The model can well describe the curing behavior of the prepreg, which will provide theoretic basis for the further studies on the thermodynamic properties of epoxy resin prepreg and the quality control of fiber metal laminates during the curing process.