Evolution of the coefficient of thermal expansion of a thermosetting polymer during cure reaction

The evolution of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of a thermosetting polymer during cure reaction is an important parameter for industrial applications such as composite processing since it influences the development of internal stresses in the material. The CTE being almost impossible to measure on a reacting thermoset, we propose to use an indirect method based on the modelling of ionic conductivity by a modified WLF equation, allowing to calculate the evolution of CTE from dielectric spectroscopy measurements. This method is applied to a dicyanate ester thermosetting polymer, leading to encouraging results both qualitatively and quantitatively.