Tag Archives: Gel Time

Fiber reinforced composite contains carbon, glass, ceramic, as well as polymer fibers like aramid (Kevlar), poly olefin fibers in woven fabric form or aligned non-woven fibers, infiltrated by a polymeric, ceramic or metallic matrix by several processes like vacuum infusion, pressure infiltration, autoclaving, thermoforming, etc. Some new developments include also some natural fibers like cotton, flax, hemp fibers. They may be structural or semi structural composites. Physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of composite materials as well as the constituent materials are important for designing and applying these class of materials.

Capability – At Touchstone Testing Laboratory, we routinely test composite materials for aerospace, automotive and other customers. We have capability to test mechanical, physical and chemical properties of composites as well as the constituent materials like resin, fibers, etc. Typical properties we test routinely are tensile, compressive, shear, flexure properties of composites. In addition, we test for wear, erosion, water resistance, humidity resistance, swelling, etc. We also test properties of constituents like flow time, gel time, volatiles contents of the resins, as well as structural properties of individual fliers, tows, woven fiber cloth, and prepregs.

Some relevant standards:

• ASTM C1275 – Standard Test Method for Monotonic Tensile Behavior of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Advanced Ceramics with Solid Rectangular Cross-Section Test Specimens atAmbient Temperature
• ASTM D2734 – Standard Test Methods for Void Content of Reinforced Plastics
• ASTM D3039 – Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Polymer Matrix CompositeMaterials
• ASTM D3171 – Standard Test Methods for Constituent Content of Composite Materials
• ASTM D3531 – Standard Test Method for Resin Flow of Carbon Fiber-Epoxy Prepreg
• ASTM D3532 – Standard Test Method for Gel Time of Carbon Fiber-Epoxy Prepreg
• ASTM D3552 – Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Fiber Reinforced MetalMatrix Composites
• ASTM D3960 – Standard Practice for Determining Volatile Organic Compound (VOC)Contentof Paints and Related Coatings
• ASTM D4762 – Standard Guide for Testing Polymer Matrix Composite Materials