A dynamic DSC study of the curing process of epoxy resin

In order to expand the industrial usefulness of an isothermal time-temperature-transformation (TTT) cure diagram, a method to make it applicable to a solid-state sample involving only resins and a catalyst was studied by using dynamic DSC (DDSC) and cone plate dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). To estimate how much curing occurred for an industrially used epoxy resin molding compound manufactured in a production process was also studied, together with its position in the TTT cure diagram. The TTT cure diagram proved to be useful for determining the differences between compounds without their dissolution in a solvent, and for estimating their heat history during the production process.