Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Cracking Process of Bisphenol F Epoxy Resin under High-Energy Particle Impact

Polymers (Basel). 2021 Dec 11;13(24):4339. doi: 10.3390/polym13244339.

Abstract

The current lead insulation of high-temperature superconductivity equipment is under the combined action of large temperature gradient field and strong electric field. Compared with a uniform temperature field, its electric field distortion is more serious, and it is easy to induce surface discharge to generate high-energy particles, destroy the insulation surface structure and accelerate insulation degradation. In this paper, the degradation reaction process of bisphenol F epoxy resin under the impact of high-energy particles, such as O3-, HO-, H3O+ and NO+, is calculated based on ReaxFF simulation. According to the different types of high-energy particles under different voltage polarities, the micro-degradation mechanism, pyrolysis degree and pyrolysis products of epoxy resin are analyzed. The results show that in addition to the chemical reaction of high-energy particles with epoxy resin, their kinetic energy will also destroy the molecular structure of the material, causing the cross-linked epoxy resin to pyrolyze, and the impact of positive particles has a more obvious impact on the pyrolysis of epoxy resin.

Keywords: active product; electro-thermal dissociation; epoxy resin; partial discharge; reactive molecular dynamics.