Electron-beam-curable epoxy resins for the manufacture of high-performance composites

Researchers at ACSION Industries and Oak Ridge Center for Composite Manufacturing Technology have recently achieved a major breakthrough for the composites industry by successfully developing Electron-Beam (EB) curable epoxies and EB curing cycles that reduce processing time and cost while meeting the demanding requirements of high-performance composite structures. These developments make it possible to use a large class of common epoxies to build composite parts without the need for slow, high-temperature, high-pressure curing cycles, the associated expensive fabrication tools, or the toxic chemical hardeners. The pioneering invention and development of EB-curable epoxies and the impact of these materials on EB processing of advanced composites has provided the stimulus for several companies to use these EB-curable epoxies to demonstrate numerous manufacturing advantages for EB-cured composite materials. This research has already highlighted novel composite material design concepts that are feasible only by using this technology. This paper summarizes the important aspects of EB-curable epoxies and the EB-curing process. Copyright (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.