The development of an epoxy resin system for the injection molding of long‐fiber epoxy composties

Abstract The Combination of reaction injection molding and pultrusion has resulted in a new processing technique, RIM‐Pultrusion, Which has been used to produce a thermoplastic epoxy prepreg. This prepreg has been used to produce a long‐fiber injection molded phenoxy/carbon fiber composite with near‐Zero void content. A heat‐activated curing system has been developed, which allows injecton molding of the prepreg to form a thermostet long‐finer epoxy/carbon finber composite. The RIM‐ pultrusion conditions for producing an injection moldable prepreg are described. Capillary rheomety is used to study the epoxy resin to determine the proper molar ratio for RIM‐Pultrusion. The long‐fiber epoxy compostie is analyzed with dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Also., the impact strength and solvent resistance of the long‐fiber composite are examined. The properties of the thermoset long‐fiber epoxy xomposite are compared to those of a thermoplastic injection molded long‐fiber phenoxy composite.