Effect of curing condition on the temperature of test piece in curing process of SMC roll forming

We have attempted to apply roll forming to sheet moulding compound (SMC). SMC roll forming has some advantages compared with other moulding method, which are a lower forming energy, a short production time, a controllability in fibre orientation, a possibility for long-sized products and so on. Until now, setting of the forming condition and deformation characteristics has been established in the forming process. In the roll forming with the aim of continuous moulding, the establishment of curing condition and the explication of cure characteristics is to be very useful. However, the study in the curing process has not been carried out. Then this time, in order to investigate the cure characteristics, we carried out the experiments about the effect of cure temperature on test piece temperature. Then, we obtained the following results. It was possible to grasp various phenomena such as exothermic reaction and gelation, curing completion by measuring the temperature of test piece, and seeing the increment value in the curing process. Then, we have aimed at the establishment of the moulding method with the reliability in SMC roll forming