Molecular simulation of thermoset curing: application to 3D printing materials
A thermoset is a polymer that is irreversibly hardened by curing from a soft solid or viscous liquid prepolymer or resin. Typically, heat or suitable radiation induce curing that can be enhanced by high pressure or mixing with a catalyst.
Recent advances in additive manufacturing software have enabled 3D printing of thermosetting polymers.
Thermosets offer superior solvent and heat resistance compared to thermoplastics used in conventional 3D printing processes.
Márk Jenei, a PhD student in the Macromolecular Materials Laboratory of a BIOVIA Ambassador Professor James Elliott at the University of Cambridge.
Márk has developed methods to simulate the complex polymerization processes that occur in 3D printing of bismaleimide photo-curable inks. The methods, developed in BIOVIA Materials Studio, offer a molecular insight in the structure of large-scale 3D polymer networks.
Combined with thermomechanical measurements this can lead to a better understanding of the structure-property relationship, with potential to guide materials design.
, Molecular Simulation (2020), DOI: 10.1080/08927022.2020.1829613).
The work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through an Industrial Cooperative Awards in Science & Technology (iCASE) studentship in conjunction with Dassault Systèmes BIOVIA.
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Senior Specialist in the Material Science & Engineering organization, Reinier Akkermans, Ph.D., joined BIOVIA in 2004. He studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, where he also received his doctorate in Polymer Physics. During his studies he worked at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and the H.C. Ørsted Institute in Denmark. After completing his Ph.D., Reinier joined the Port Sunlight Laboratory of Unilever Research & Development as a Marie Curie Fellow, studying the mechanics of human hair with multiscale modelling. His work at BIOVIA is focussed on multiscale modelling of materials, ranging from human hair and skin to thermoset polymers, rechargeable batteries and fuel cells.