I am searching for an epoxy resin that has a low coef. of thermal expansion (in the neighborhood of 10 uin/in-degF). Does anyone have recommendations for suppliers, websites, or materials that I can look in to? Thanks.
Do you know of any Kevlar products that can be added to a thermoset epoxy? Does Kevlar come in forms other than sheets? I need an additive that can be mixed into an epoxy and not significantly alter the epoxy pour/fill characteristics. We plan to pour epoxy into a silicon mold, pull a vacuum, and cure it. A fabric-like kevlar sheet won't work.
We've tried glass-filled micro bubbles and were able to reduce the CTE from 35 to 25 uin/in-degF.
Kevlar comes in a variety of forms, including continuous filament yarn, staple, engineered short fiber, pulp, spun yarn, and woven fabric. I suggest you investigate further with DuPont:
Epoxies are frequently formulated with very high levels of inorganic mineral fillers in order to reduce the CTE, especially for encapsulation of microelectronic components. I cannot recommend any specific grades or manufacturers, but you can perform your own search using the database from COMPOSITES TECHNOLOGY/HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPOSITES magazines: