Shrinkage Control of Cured Unsaturated Polyester Resin containing low profile additive and Nanoclay. Part I: The Effects of Different Cure Temperatures

About 7 – 10 % volume shrinkage, is created during free radical copolymerization of unsaturated polyester resin and styrene. Volume shrinkage causes warping, wavy surfaces, internal voids and cracks. This requires post-mold processing to improve surface finish. The effect of nanoclay (Cloisite 20A) on volume shrinkage of unsaturated polyester (UP) resin with poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) as the low profile additive (LPA) at different cure temperature was investigated. This nanocomposite helped to achieve near zero volume shrinkage for UP/PMMA resins cured in high temperature and shrinkage value of 5.5% for resins cured in low temperature.

کلیدواژه ها:

Nanocomposites ، Shrinkage control ، Nanoclay ، Unsaturated polyester resin ، low profile additive