Thermal expansion and swelling of cured epoxy resin used in graphite/epoxy composite materials

The paper presents results of experiments in which the thermal expansion and swelling behavior of an epoxy resin system and two graphite/epoxy composite systems exposed to water were measured. It was found that the cured epoxy resin swells by an amount slightly less than the volume of the absorbed water and that the swelling efficiency of the water varies with the moisture content of the polymer. Additionally, the thermal expansion of cured epoxy resin that is saturated with water is observed to be more than twice that of dry resin. Results also indicate that cured resin that is saturated with 7.1% water at 95 C will rapidly increase in moisture content to 8.5% when placed in 1 C water. The mechanism for this phenomenon, termed reverse thermal effect, is described in terms of a slightly modified free-volume theory in conjunction with the theory of polar molecule interaction. Nearly identical behavior was observed in two graphite/epoxy composite systems, thus establishing that this behavior may be common to all cured epoxy resins.