Curing of Polymer Composite for Processing of HTPB-PAPI

Adedayo Adeniran, Kathy Dharmaraj, Alan Gershon, Dr. Hugh Bruck

B5: Advances in Technology 2 , Poster Presentation, GRID 2009

11:00 AM-12:00 PM, Thurgood Marshall

Using Digital Image Correlation (DIC), the deformation response of HTPB-PAPI was analyzed. HTPB-PAPI is a propellant polymer with a relatively long cure time and is an ideal subject to use to study the analytical techniques available through DIC. HTPB-PAPI is a two-component polymer and upon curing is very solid material. The speckle pattern provides an approach for being able to track the deformational changes on the surface while the polymer cures. As the polymer curing continues and the molecular bonds become stronger, photographs are taken of the polymeric surface using a digital image capture program. Photographs are taken for the entire duration of the curing process and then analyzed with the Visual Image Capture  2-Dimensional (VIC-2D) software. VIC-2D uses the photographs to analyze the strain deformation on the polymer surface as it cures. With the use of several algorithms, strain data information for the cured polymer is obtained. VIC-2D also has the capability to produce videos which show the physical strain deformation of the surface. The strain data is then plotted as a function of time. This plot provides analytical information about the polymer and allows the researcher to better explain how the polymer is curing and how the curing effects can affect how the polymer is used in its applications as a propellant polymer. With this research, it is anticipated to be able to use DIC to analyze slow-curing polymers.