Recent progress in computer simulation applied in the automatic pressure gelation (APG) process for epoxy casting systems

The authors present fundamental information about the first steps of modeling the nonlinear gelation and curing phenomena of an epoxy resin system based on available material data with respect to the relevant chemical reactions and energy balance. The necessary assumptions concerning the filling of the tool, the heat transfer and shrinking of the material are discussed. In the case of simple shaped parts, such as plates, rods and post insulators, the results of computer simulations are available and are visualized. The propagation of the gelation and curing zone, including the time dependent temperature distribution, can be displayed on the screen. Comparison between calculated and measured data from moulding experiments is in fairly good agreement.