Correlations between rheological and thermal behaviour of TGDDM/m-PDA epoxy systems

Isothermal variation of viscosity has been investigated at various temperatures for an epoxy-aromatic amine system (TGDDM/m-PDA system). The variation of the extent of reaction during the curing process has been also determined by means of differential scanning calorimetry. Two different models were used to predict the viscosity during cure: a model based on a modified Williams-Landel-Ferry equation, and a percolation-gelation analogy. This analysis reflects that the reaction mechanism does not change with temperature in the studied range.