TECHNICAL DATA SHEET AEROSPACE MATERIALS Cycom 55-2 Modified Cyanate Prepreg System DESCRIPTION The Rigidite 55-2 Prepreg System is a 350 F (177 C) curing modified cyanate ester resin. This system has good high temperature mechanical properties with low dielectric constant and low loss tangent electrical properties. Typical applications include radomes, antenna structures, (qualified on the F-22) low observable structures, and low dielectric substrates and loss tangent. Other products in the cyanate ester family include Metlbond 2555 and FM X2525 structural film adhesives. FEATURES & BENEFITS One of a family of compatible products based on second-generation cyanate ester chemistry Low dielectric constant and loss tangent Service temperature up to 350⁰F (177⁰C) Autoclave, vacuum or press curable Excellent hot/wet mechanical performance Low moisture uptake, low out-gassing properties Shelf Life is in excess of six months at 0⁰F (-18⁰C), or three months at 40⁰F (4⁰C) in sealed containers. To prevent moisture pickup, a sealed container should be opened until the prepreg reaches ambient temperature. Shop life is in excess of 21 days at room temperature QUAZ AND GLASS FIBER Quartz fiber prepreg is available in woven broadgoods, for such use as aircraft structure that require a low dielectric constant and dielectric loss tangent. Glass fiber prepreg, in woven broadgoods, is useful for applications requiring a median dielectric constant. Prepreg form, in woven fabric, is available up to 60 inches (152 cm) wide or slit to your requirements. www.cytec.com 2014 Cytec Industries Inc. ASM-9142-EN Rev. 00 13 May 2014
PROPEIES Table 1 Physical Properties Tg No Post-Cure 4 hours at 350 F (177 C) 2 hours Post-Cure at 440 F (227 C) Alternate Post-Cure 2 hours at 480 F (249 C) 3 F (190 C) 4 F (246 C0 500 F (260 C) QC-PT-29 QC-PT-29 QC-PT-25 Gel Time At 350 F (177 C), Fischer-John s 5 10 minutes QC-PT-87 Moisture Pickup 30 days 95% R.H., 160 F 1.0% Out-Gassing Total Mass Loss (TML) Collected Volatile Condensable Materials (CVCM) Water Vapor Recovered (WVR) 0.25.001 0.30 ASTM E- 595, NASA Sp-R-0022A Table 2 Physical Properties Fiber Resin Content, % Weight Volatiles, % Weight Maximum Flow, % Weight Glass Style Astroquartz II 503 Astroquartz II 581 E-Glass 1581 E-Glass - 7781 38 33 32 39 2.0 2.0 0.6 18 11 16 24 Test Procedure QC-PT-13 QC-PT-16 QC-PT-17 Test Temperature F ( C) 350 F (177 C) 350 F (177 C) Test Pressure 100PSI Table 3 Electrical Properties Sample Frequency Bandwidth GHz Temperature F ( C) Dielectric Constant Loss Tangent Neat Resin Rigidite 55-2 10 2.8 0.002 0.005 55-2 / 7781 Fiberglass, 36% R.C. 10 4.21 0.007 10 12.4 18.0 18.0 26.5 26.5 40.0 40.0 60.0.0 110.0 400 (204) 3.2 3.2 3.18 3.26 3.24 3.23 3.26 0.002 0.005 0.002 0.005 -- -- 0.0057 0.0051 0.0054
Table 4 Mechanical Properties Glass Fiber Test Temperature Rigidite 55-2 / 7781 /W 250 F / W (121 C) 350 D (177 C) 350 F / W (177 C) 450 F (232 C) 550 F (288 C) 63 (434) 52 (358) 49 (338) 46 (317) 42 ( (289) 47 (324) 40 (276) 42 (289) 36 (243) Compression Strength (ASTM D695) Ultimate, Ksi / W 250 F / W (121 C) 350 F (177 C) 350 F / W (177 C) / W 3.4 (23.4) 3.3 (22.7) 3.2 (22.0) 3.1 (21.4) 3.3 (22.7) 70.4 (485) 70.8 (488) 48.3 (333) 47.9 (330) Short Beam Shear Strength (ASTM D2344) Wet Conditioning = 72 hour water boil FV = 55% / W / W 250 F / W (121 C) 350 F (177 C) 350 F / W (177 C) 450 F (232 C) 3.4 (23.4) 3.2 (22.0) 10.0 (69) 8.1 (56) 7.7 (53) 7.0 (48) 5.5 (38) 6.9 (48) 4.8 (33) 3.9 (27)
Table 5 Mechanical Properties Astroquartz Compression Strength (ASTM D695) Ultimate, Ksi Flexural Strength (ASTM D790) Ultimate, Ksi Test Temperature D D D D D D Rigidite 55-2 / 581 Astroquartz 101 (696) 3.8 (26.1) 76 (524) 3.4 (23.4) 115 (792) 3.9 (23.4) Short Beam Shear Strength (ASTM D234) Ultimate, Ksi D 11.7 (81) FV = 55% Table 6 Mechanical Properties Glass Fiber Environment and Fluid Resistance Environmental Preconditioning Test Temperature 7781 Hydraulic Oil Room Temperature 350 F (177 C) 49 (338) 47 (323) 45 (310 3.2 (22.0) 3.1 (21.3) 3.0 (20.6) Jet Fuel, JP5 Room Temperature 47 (232.8) 45 (310.0) 3.2 (22.0 3.3 (22.7) 5% Salt Spray 95 F 30 Days Exposure 50 (344) 46 (317) 3.1 (21.3) Moisture 95% RH, 160 F 1.0 Weight Gain 30 Days Exposure 46 (316) 41 (282) 3.1 (21.3) 2.9 (19.9) FV = 55%
Environmental Preconditioning Test Temperature 7781 Tensile Strength (ASTM D695) Hydraulic Oil 67 (461) 3.2 (20.6) Tensile Strength (ASTM D695) Jet Fuel, JP5 68 (468) 3.1 (21.3) Tensile Strength (ASTM D695) Moisture 95% RH, 160 F 60 (413) 1.0 Weight Gain 2.8 (19.2) 30 Days Exposure Figure 1 No Bleed Bagging Procedures Recommended for Rigidite 55-2 Laminates Autoclave Cure 1. Edge breather, 1 ply style 1542 glass fabric, or equivalent, 1 inch (2.54 cm) minimum width with connection to vacuum source. Place a single fiberglass yarn between the edges of the layup and the edge breathers to allow evacuation of air from the layup. Additional yarns may be required on thicker laminates or parts to provide adequate removal of trapped air. 2. FEP extends to the center line of edge breather 3. Pressure place 0.20 inch (5.0 mm) minimum. Cure Cycles Cytec s recommended standard autoclave cure cycles for Rigidite 55-2 composites, up to 0.5 inch (12,7 mm) thickness, is as follows: Autoclave Cure, Laminates Initial Pressure Apply 22 inch Hg (74 KPa) vacuum minimum and 85 psi (580 KPa). Vent vacuum when autoclave pressure reaches 15 to 2o psi (103 to 138 KPa) Heat Rise to 350 ± 5 F (177 ± 3 C) Dwell 240 minutes at 350 ± 5 F (177 ± 3 C) Cook Down Under pressure to <140 F (60 C) Post-Cure 440 F (227 C) for 120 minutes Bagging procedure for woven goods are typically standard edge bleed only. Surface bleeders may be added when higher laminate fiber volume is desired.
Test Specimen Fabrication Unidirectional carbon fiber composites fabricated from Rigidite 55-2 materials are currently generating tensile strengths up to 300 Ksi (2067 KPa), and modulus values in the 18 to 22 Msi (124 to 151 GPa) range, standard G30-500 modulus. Precautions As might be expected, a much greater level of care must be exercised in several areas of specimen fabrication and mechanical testing in order to achieve the available properties of the test material. Due to the high stresses associated with tests involving this material, we have identified some of the more critical areas requiring additional precision to obtain ultimate properties. Very precise 0 fiber alignment in layup Extremely accurate alignment in cutting test specimens relative to 0 fiber orientation Careful matching of tab material thickness on opposite sides of test specimens (especially compression). Avoid tape in tab bondline thickness. Carefully avoid any minute imperfections (stress concentration points), especially in the edges of the tensile specimens. Cytec recommends wet grinding all tension and compression specimens to final width and length dimensions. Parallelism of bonded tab ends (in both planes) is critical in specimens, and the ground ends should be perpendicular within 0.001 inches (0.025 mm) across both width and thickness dimensions of the specimens. Smooth surfaces on bonded tabs are recommended on compression specimens to prevent fixture binding. Tab Bonding Adhesive it is necessary to use very high shear strength adhesive for tab bonding. Suitable recommended adhesives are show as follows: Test Condition 67 F (-55 C) 180 F (82 C) Wet / 160 F (91 C) 200 F (93 C) Wet / 200 F (93 C) Adhesive Metlbond 1113 or Equivalent Metlbond 1113 or Equivalent Tab Materials for tensile tab materials, Cytec has found it convenient to purchase an electrical grade epoxy glass laminate. This material is designated MIL-P-181771, GEE/G 10, 0.060 inch (1.524 mm) thick. The material may be purchased in 3 inch (7.6 cm) wide x 26 inch (66.0 cm) long strips. However, some recent work strongly indicates that a ±45 fiber orientation to the tab loading axis is quite beneficial in more uniformly loading the tab bond area, thereby precluding premature tab bond failure. Cytec grinds the taper on tensile tab materials to 15 ± 2, leaving 0.005 to 0.010 inch (0.127 to 0.254 mm) edge thickness rather than a feather edge. NOTE: For elevated temperature testing at 270 F (132 C) and above, a higher temperature tab material is required, such as NARMCO s 506. Testing Tensile Specimens a very important requirement is that the test machine grips be of sufficient length to grip the entire tab length up to or beyond the beginning of the taper. This is to avoid a pinch-off effect which almost always causes premature failure. The test specimen must be precisely aligned in the grips and in the direction of the load. Compression Tabs Cytec recommends the use of Rigidite 55-2 material, all 0 orientation is the longitudinal direction of the specimen. Use sufficient plies to product a nominal thickness of 0.070 inches (1.778 mm) or 1 ½ times the thickness of the laminate.
Tab Bonding all tab bonding should be done at relatively low pressure, i.e., 10 to 15 psi (69 to 103 KPa), in order to maintain suitable glue line thickness. In compression specimens, it is important to keep the 0.188 inches (4.7 mm) unsupported section as free as possible from adhesive flash. A properly sized strip of cured composites or aluminum covered with Teflon film can be used effectively for this purpose. It also is desirable to fabricate a simple bonding fixture to accurately position the tabs on the test laminate, drill positioning holds outside of the bond area and use sub-surface pins to prevent tab slippage during bonding. Although this is not mandatory, it will greatly assist in maintaining accurate tab spacing and alignment. PRODUCT HANDLING AND SAFETY Cytec Industries Inc. recommends wearing clean, impervious gloves when working with potting compound to reduce skin contact and to avoid contamination of the product. Materials Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and product labels are available upon request and can be obtained from www.cytec.com or any Cytec location supplying aerospace materials. DISPOSAL OF SCRAP MATERIAL Disposal of scrap material must be in accordance with local, state, and federal regulations. CONTACT INFORMATION Global Product Referral tel: 1 800 652 6013 USA tel: +1 973 357 3193 Outside the USA email: custinfo@cytec.com DISCLAIMER: The data and information provided in this document have been obtained from carefully controlled samples and are considered to be representative of the product described. Cytec does not express or imply any guarantee or warranty of any kind including, but not limited to, the accuracy, the completeness or the relevance of the data and information set out herein. Because the properties of this product can be significantly affected by the fabrication and testing techniques employed, and since Cytec does not control the conditions under which its products are tested and used, Cytec cannot guarantee the properties provided will be obtained with other processes and equipment. No guarantee or warranty is provided the product is adapted for a specific use or purpose. Cytec declines any liability with respect to the use made by any third party of the data and information contained herein. Cytec has the right to change any data or information when deemed appropriate. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.