IDROTHERMAL AGING OF IONIZING RADIATION CURED EPOXY MATRICES FOR CARBON FIBER COMPOSITES

A poly(ethersulfone) (PES) engineering thermoplastic was used as toughening agent for an epoxy resin. Different percentages of PES in the resin were used, then cured by electron beam irradiation and some samples were thermally post-cured. The influence of the hydrothermal ageing on all types of samples was studied, measuring the water absorption percentage, the thermal properties, by dynamical mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), and the toughness, by K-Ic measurements.