TY - JOUR A1 - Dümichen, Erik A1 - Javdanitehran, M. A1 - Erdmann, Maren A1 - Trappe, Volker A1 - Sturm, Heinz A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Ziegmann, G. T1 - Analyzing the network formation and curing kinetics of epoxy resins by in situ near-infrared measurements with variable heating rates N2 - Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) turned out to be well suited for analyzing the degree of cure for epoxy systems. In contrast to dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC), where the released heat of reaction determines the degree of epoxy conversion indirectly, NIR spectroscopy is able to determine the conversion directly by analyzing structural changes. Therefore, a new heatable NIR cell was equipped with an integrated thermocouple, which enables the real sample temperature to be controlled and monitored in situ during epoxy curing. Dynamic scans at different heating rates were used for kinetic modelling, to define kinetic parameters and to predict real curing processes. The kinetic models and their parameters were validated with an isothermal and a more complex multi-step curing scenario. Two available commercial epoxy systems based on DGEBA were used with an anhydride and with an amine hardener. NIR results were compared with DSC data. The simulated conversion predicted with a model fitted on the basis of NIR and DSC dynamic scans showed good agreement with the conversion measured in the isothermal curing validation test. Due to the proven reliability of NIR in measuring the reaction progress of curing, it can be considered a versatile measurement system for in situ monitoring of component production in the automotive, aerospace and wind energy sectors. KW - Epoxy resins KW - Curing kinetics KW - Near-infrared spectroscopy KW - DSC PY - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2015.08.008 SN - 0040-6031 SN - 1872-762X VL - 616 SP - 49 EP - 60 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-34187 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Javdanitehran, M. A1 - Berg, D. Ch. A1 - Dümichen, Erik A1 - Ziegmann, G. ED - Javdanitehran, M. T1 - An iterative approach for isothermal curing kinetics modelling of an epoxy resin system N2 - In this work a novel iterative method for isothermal cure kinetic modelling of an epoxy resin system using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique is presented. To reach the isothermal cure temperature, the sample has to be heated up from ambient temperature. This is commonly done with very high heat-up rates to minimise the time the sample reacts at temperatures other than the desired one. However, during heat up with high heating the amount of released energy rates cannot be measured directly because the shape of baseline is unknown. This means that the cure state at the beginning of the isothermal stage is unknown. For fast curing systems this unknown cure state causes significant inaccuracies in cure kinetics modelling. The presented iterative approach attempts to estimate the released enthalpy during heat-up of an isothermal run through an iterative numerical modelling of the heat-up phase. In each iteration the algorithm starts by estimating the enthalpy released during heat-up based on the recorded temperature profile and the calibrated model of the previous iteration. At the same time, it estimates the degree of cure at the end of the heat-up phase. Once the initial cure state is known the total heat of enthalpy can be recalculated for the current iteration. Subsequently the degree of cure and curing rate are re-evaluated with the newly estimated total enthalpy and used for determining the kinetics parameters. This is done by simultaneous fitting of the selected model to all experimental heat flow curves using a non-linear nonrestricted multivariable fitting method. The model with these new parameters is used again to estimate the released enthalpy and cure degree during the heat-up phase. The described loop is repeated until a predefined convergence criterion is satisfied. For modelling the reaction kinetics, the Kamal–Sourour equation accompanied with Rabinowitch approach to consider the diffusion effects is used. The diffusion reaction rate is modelled by the free volume model proposed by Huguenin and Klein. DiBenedetto model is applied to predict the Evolution of glass transition temperature against the degree of cure. In order to compensate the effect of the Initial values in the model’s calibration, the algorithm is implemented in a routine, which assesses the quality of the fitting and consequently selects the cure kinetics parameter. The described algorithm and the Routine are implemented in MATLAB. This paper demonstrates the application of this approach for using cure kinetics modelling to predict the degree of cure and the glass transition temperature. It supports the obtained results with validation tests using isothermal, dynamic and combined temperature profiles. KW - Epoxy resins KW - Curing kinetics KW - DSC KW - Isothermal PY - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2015.11.014 VL - 2016 IS - 623 SP - 72 EP - 79 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-35719 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -