• Composites Research
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.90-95
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• 2014

Cure shrinkage during cure process of polymer matrix composites develope residual stress that cause some structural deformation, such as spring-in, spring-out and warpage. The carbon/epoxy prepreg used in this study is Hexply M21EV/34%/UD268NFS/IMA-12K supplied by Hexcel corp. Cure shrinkage and degree of cure measured by TMA(thermomechanical analyzer) and DSC(differential scanning calorimetry). Cure shrinkages are measured by TMA within a temperature range of $140{\sim}240^{\circ}C$ in a nitrogen atmosphere, and degree of cure determined by the heat of reaction using dynamic and isothermal DSC runs in argon atmosphere. As a result, the cure shrinkage is increased dramatically in a degree of cure range between 27~80%. the higher the cure temperature, the lower the degree of cure occurring to begin cure shrinkage.