The electron beam cure of epoxy paste adhesives
- Air Force Advanced Composites Program office, McClellan AFB, CA (United States)
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology
- Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Pinawa, Manitoba (Canada). Whiteshell Labs.
Recently developed epoxy paste adhesives were electron beam cured and experimentally explored to determine their suitability for use in an aerospace-quality aircraft component. There were two major goals for this program. The first was to determine whether the electron beam-curable past adhesives were capable of meeting the requirements of the US Air Force T-38 supersonic jet trainer composite windshield frame. The T-38 windshield frame`s arch is currently manufactured by bonding thin stainless steel plies using an aerospace-grade thermally-cured epoxy film adhesive. The second goal was to develop the lowest cost hand layup and debulk process that could be used to produce laminated steel plies with acceptable properties. The laminate properties examined to determine adhesive suitability include laminate mechanical and physical properties at room, adhesive tack, out-time capability, and the debulk requirements needed to achieve these properties. Eighteen past adhesives and four scrim cloths were experimentally examined using this criteria. One paste adhesive was found to have suitable characteristics in each of these categories and was later chosen for the manufacture of the T-38 windshield frame. This experimental study shows that by using low-cost debulk and layup processes, the electron beam-cured past adhesive mechanical and physical properties meet the specifications of the T-38 composite windshield frame.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-96OR22464
- OSTI ID:
- 638207
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/CP-98697; CONF-980572-; ON: DE98005985; BR: FD2040974; 0023; TRN: 98:007844
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1998 Society for the Advancement of Material and Processing Engineering, Anaheim, CA (United States), 31 May - 4 Jun 1998; Other Information: PBD: [1998]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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