The influence of the amount of hardener on the tensile mechanical behavior of an epoxy system

The tensile mechanical behavior of an epoxy/amine system, with varying amounts of hardener, was evaluated. The results showed that a brittle to ductile transition occurs as the amount of hardener is increased. This behavior was associated with the change in the number of molecular segments that present mobility in the macromolecular network. The epoxy-rich formulations are brittle due to the total consumption of the functional groups on the hardener molecule. On the other hand, the amine-rich formulations showed a fracture behavior characteristic of materials with large deformation capacity. This behavior was associated with the presence of unreacted points on the hardener molecule which introduce a new mobile molecular segment in the macromolecular network formed. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.