In this post we will introduce the concepts and methods to measure flow using the IPC flow test.  Complete details of the test method may be found in IPC-TM-650 (The Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits). The flow test measures the percent resin that flows out of a standardized stack of B-staged prepreg for a given lamination process.  The test is ... [Click to Continue...]

Last fall I posted a ten part series on the Rheology of Thermosets (staring August 11, 2014) and covered the basics of rheometry, isothermal and non-isothermal rheology measurements, and finished with a case study on composite lamination.  In the next series of posts, I will expand on the composite lamination case study and provide a more in-depth look at how the rheology and ... [Click to Continue...]

In order to be a successful innovator these days you have to be fast.  But how do you measure “fast?” Some of our readers may remember the Fram oil filter ads “you can pay me now or you can pay me later.”  In any case, you will have to pay up.  But how does that relate to innovation? Or a corollary with similar implications is “nobody has enough time to do it right the first ... [Click to Continue...]

Guest Post by Huan Lee, Lambient Technologies In this last post I want to pass on some tips for successful dielectric cure monitoring. Most seem obvious in retrospect, but I found that the simplicity of the method—place a sample on the sensor, heat and go away for lunch—sometimes caused me to forget how care and good practice go a long way to making good ... [Click to Continue...]

Guest Post by Huan Lee, Lambient Technologies Let’s look at the cure of carbon fiber reinforced prepreg (CFRP), which is challenging because of the conductive fabric. Use of a filter allows resin to flow to a dielectric/conductivity sensor yet prevents carbon fibers from short circuiting the measurement. In this post I’ll present data from a single batch of CFRP, tested for ... [Click to Continue...]