The use of regression experimental design to study some factors effecting the curing process of an epoxy resin

A regression experimental design has been used to study the effects of temperature, curing time, and ratio of resin to hardener on the cure of an epoxy resin. It was found that these parameters can be used to characterize the resin using a second-degree polynomial to define the cure state. Important characteristics could be derived from this polynomial. An advantage of the method is that it needs far fewer sets of measurements to fully characterize the system with respect to the influence of several variables than the factorial design and regression methods taken separately. The method lends itself to the use of a microcomputer for both regression analysis and the prediction of curing parameter values for specific conditions, and minimizes the amount of experimental work required to obtain the characterization. An analysis of experimental results is presented