Effects of Y-nodes in DGEBA/TDE-85/MTHPA blends on their thermal and mechanical properties: MD simulation and experimental study

Abstract

With the development of alternate electrical power system and the improvement of voltage level, the operation conditions faced by epoxy resin (ER) insulation materials are becoming more and more complex. The traditional ER materials have been difficult to meet the increasingly stringent requirements. In this paper, the thermal and mechanical properties of DGEBA/TDE-85/MTHPA blend system were studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and experiment. The results show that the addition of TDE-85 can significantly improve the thermal and mechanical properties, and the comprehensive improvement effect is the best when the molar ratio of DGEBA and TDE-85 is about 8:2. The experimental results are consistent with the simulation results. Further analysis of the micro-parameters of the monomer and the cross-linking network found that the torsional energy barrier of TDE-85 is higher than DGEBA. And the compatibility of the two ER is better when the ratio is 8:2. In addition, TDE-85 can introduce high-stability Y-nodes into the system, making the cross-linked network more stable, which has a significant effect on improving the thermal and mechanical properties. The research provide a reference for the blending modification of high-performance ER for high-voltage insulation.

Keywords: Elastic modulus; Epoxy resin; Glass transition temperature; High voltage insulation; Microscopic parameters; Molecular dynamics.