The composite industry faces high production costs due to the low level of automation and low production throughput. With the optimization of production times in mind, this master's thesis focused on the influence of the process temperature on the crosslinking time and various material properties of the epoxy resin. The aim of the research was to obtain the answers to the questions: "How quickly can the selected materials cross-link at an elevated temperature?" and "How does the accelerated cross-linking affect the mechanical and other material properties of the final product?". The kinetics and the process of crosslinking of the resin were monitored by using differential dynamic calorimetry and rheological analysis. Comprehensive insight into the behavior of crosslinked epoxy resin at different crosslinking temperatures was obtained by the tests of dynamic mechanical analysis of the final, crosslinked samples. The values of the elastic and viscous contribution to the viscoelastic behavior in shear and bending were observed. By knowing the value of the viscoelastic moduli, we were able to determine the glass transition temperatures of individual samples. The results showed that as the crosslinking temperature increases, the glass transition temperatures increase, while the values of the viscoelastic moduli decrease. With the help of rheological analysis, we determined the shortest times at which the sample materials were cross-linked enough, to successfully remove them from the mold. The values of the viscoelastic moduli of prematurely demolded samples were up to 35 % lower than the values of the same samples that were completely cross-linked in the mold.
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