Influence of Cure Regime on the Strain Development in an Epoxy Resin as Monitored by a Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor

Abstract In this paper, the effects of different cure regimes on the strain development in an anhydride‐cured epoxy resin were investigated by fiber optical measurements. The course of the strain signal was detected by an embedded fiber Bragg grating sensor in the unconstrainedly curing epoxy. The build‐up of strain was detected for various cure regimes differing in the dwelling times of the first isothermal step, heating rates to the cure temperature, and final curing temperatures, respectively. Characteristic points (gelation, vitrification) of the cure regimes were identified by conversion‐ and T g ‐determinations via DSC and assigned to changes of the FBG signal. The fiber Bragg sensing technique allowed us to find those variables of the cure regimes which mostly affect the strain development and thus, the level of the residual strain. It was established that the dwelling time and heating rate to the cure temperature influence markedly the residual strain whereas the cure temperature affects this value to a lesser extent for the selected cure regimes. So, the above parameters should be selected properly for an optimum cure regime characterized by the build‐up of a minimum residual strain. magnified image