Time-dependent Bulk Behavior of Cured Epoxy Molding Compound

A unique hydrostatic testing setup to measure time-and-temperature dependent hydrostatic strains of EMC is developed and implemented. The setup can apply hydrostatic pressure to an EMC coupon at any preset rates at a wide range of temperatures using He gas. In this study, a linear ramp of pressure application is employed to avoid heat generation associated with instant pressure application used in the previous attempt. The time-and-temperature dependent bulk moduli are determined by solving the hereditary integral equation using the pressure and hydrostatic strain history document during testing. This procedure requires a short testing time, which is ideally suited to measurements of the viscoelastic bulk behavior of partially cured EMC.