Dielectric Cure Monitoring of Reaction Injection Molding Processes

Implantable microdielectric sensors are routinely used to monitor the cure of thermosetting polymers. Until recently, the cure monitoring of Reaction Injection Molding (RIM) processes has been difficult due to the short reaction times of RIM materials in relation to the time required to make the dielectric measurements. New high-speed hardware and software (8.3 milliseconds per measurement) has been developed for the dielectric cure monitoring of RIM systems. Dielectric curing data collected with both the existing and new hardware and software are discussed.