Real time monitoring of cure and gelification of a thermoset matrix.

The consolidation of a com. thermoset resin has been completely monitored by using a unique fiber optic sensor integrating a refractometer and a fiber Bragg grating. In particular, the advancement and the evolution of the resin polymn. reaction have been followed by measuring the optical properties changes induced by the thermo-chem. transformations. On the other hand, the fiber Bragg grating has been used to detect online the resin gelification onset. The exptl. results demonstrated the capability and the efficiency of the developed sensor system to provide complete information on the main phenomena occurring during the cure cycle of a thermoset based system.