Measuring the Thermal Conductivity of a Resin During Cure

Curing of thermoset resins is accompanied by a strong exothermic reaction. For large industrial parts, this heat release can significantly affect the temperature distribution within the material, potentially causing local hot spots, inhomogeneous curing, or even thermal degradation. Therefore, it is essential to understand and accurately describe the resin's thermal parameters, in particular its thermal conductivity. This thermophysical property evolves strongly during the reaction progress. In this work, we investigate the evolution of thermal conductivity during curing of an amine‑based epoxy resin using complementary measurement techniques (transient hot‐wire and light flash analysis). In addition, we investigate the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of the fully cured resin employing both light flash analysis and a guarded heat‑flow meter.