Prepreg for use in making composite parts which tolerate hot and wet conditions
AssigneeHexcel Corporation
InventorsYen-Seine Wang, Gordon Emmerson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Pre-impregnated composite material (prepreg) that can be cured/molded to form aerospace composite parts that are designed to tolerate hot and wet conditions. The prepreg includes fibers and an uncured resin. The uncured resin includes an epoxy component that is a combination of a trifunctional epoxy resin, a tetrafunctional epoxy resin and a solid epoxy resin. The resin further includes polyethersulfone as a toughening agent and a curing agent.
Claims15
A prepreg that is curable to form a composite material that has an open hole compression of at least 37 at a temperature of 132° C. under wet conditions, said prepreg comprising:
- A) fibers;
- and
- B) an uncured resin having a sub glass transition temperature of 0° C. to 5°C., said uncured resin comprising:
- a) an epoxy resin component comprising:
- 1) 22 to 26 weight percent triglycidyl aminophenol epoxy resin, based on the total weight of said uncured resin;
- 2) 22 to 26 weight percent tetrafunctional epoxy resin, based on the total weight of said uncured resin;
- 3) 4 to 8 weight percent solid epoxy resin, based on the total weight of said uncured resin wherein said solid epoxy resin is selected from the group of solid epoxy resins having the following formulas:
- where G is a glycidyl or epoxide group and n=1.5 to 2;
- and
- b) 15 to 19 weight percent polyethersulfone, based on the total weight of said uncured resin;
- and
- c) a sufficient amount of a curing agent to provide curing of said uncured resin to form said composite material.
A method for making a prepreg that is curable form a composite material that has an open hole compression of at least 37 at a temperature of 132° C. under wet conditions, said method comprising the steps of:
- A) providing fibers;
- and
- B) impregnating said fibers with an uncured resin having a sub glass transition temperature of 0° C. to 5°C., said uncured resin comprising:
- a) an epoxy resin component comprising:
- 1) 22 to 26 weight percent triglycidyl aminophenol epoxy resin, based on the total weight of said uncured resin;
- 2) 22 to 26 weight percent tetrafunctional epoxy resin, based on the total weight of said uncured resin;
- 3) 4 to 8 weight percent solid epoxy resin, based on the total weight of said uncured resin wherein said solid epoxy resin is selected from the group of solid epoxy resins having the following formulas:
- where G is a glycidyl or epoxide group and n=1.5to 2;
- and
- b) 15 to 19 weight percent polyethersulfone, based on the total weight of said uncured resin;
- and
- c) a sufficient amount of a curing agent to provide curing of said uncured resin to form said composite material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.