Publication: Measurement of thermoset cure properties withan in-house constructed rheometer usingreal time data analysis developed in visual basic
Date
2009-05-01
Authors
Pereira, Paul Andrew
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Thermoset polymers have found great use and application in today’s society in critical ways. They are paramount to the fields of structural adhesives, integrated circuit components, engineering and various strength dependent aerospace applications. The make or break period which makes a thermosetting polymer effective in its application is none other than its curing period in which the polymer networks chemically and imparts strength through chemical bonding. It is crucial then for researchers needing to develop and study thermosets to be able to adequately characterize the curing duration of the resin before industrial and commercial use. This capability is also needed when quality control (QC) engineers need to make changes to their compounding on the fly when on the production line. To properly characterize the curing systems of epoxy resins and thermosetting polymers, rheological studies have to be conducted to determine critical cure parameters. This is usually conducted using customized commercial rheometers such as oscillating rheometers, having geometries specifically designed to cater to thermoset polymers. However, the costs of such rheometers in the current market climb from RM70, 000 to much higher values. It is also apparent that such rheometers are closed in terms of expandability, and further development on them by the end user would require expensive upgrades and servicing. In view of this and in regard to the astronomical costs needed to characterize the cure of polymers, a local, Malaysian made rheometer is needed that is affordable, easy to use, expandable and well constructed to reduce the dependency the local industry and academia has on foreign instruments and to promote the utilization of local expertise as well as to contribute to the Malaysian industries especially in the rubber processing and semiconductor die-packaging industries. Constructing therheometer is not the biggest problem that local researchers face but rather developing it to perform the critical tasks that are required of it. This involves the construction of a software platform that is in tune with the engineering needs of polymer rheology. Universiti Sains Malaysia researchers have developed such a rheometer and computer aided analytical platform. It was found that the analytical software tool developed meets the performance requirements that were set out for it in the beginning. The tool was able to acquire a cure profile for polymers, refine the rheometer curve, analyze the curve with complex algorithms and deliver critical curing data and viscosity information for the polymers tested. The basis of the knowledge required to complete this project was widespread and required knowledge of Polymer Rheology, Process Control, and Programming for Engineers; all of which are core subjects that are already being taught to Universiti Sains Malaysia Polymer Engineering undergraduates. This thesis intends to review and demonstrate this effort that has been conducted by Malaysian researchers from Universiti Sains Malaysia to build and construct this rheometer computer aided platform tool, which can wholly be called ‘Malaysian Made’. Secondarily, it aims to demonstrate the efficacy of blending several pools of knowledge from different fields to enhance the research capabilities of polymer engineering in the future.