HDT Test on Resins and Composite with Resin Matrix

One of the main and important application for all resins, and composite with a resin matrix, is in the nautical field. These particular materials are widely used for the building of hulls and products destined to permanent water contact, competition boats, surf-boards etc. Nautical sector requires products characterized by excellent mechanical and thermal resistance, high surface finish, water resistance, for the realization of structural elements of boats subject to strong stress.

An easier way to investigate the properties of a resin or a composite based on resin matrix, is to perform Heat Deflection Temperature (HDT) tests. This kind of analysis is particularly useful in these applications because the matrix maintains its mechanical characteristics up to the HDT value, then it assumes a plastic behavior. If the temperature will grown more than HDT value, permanent deformation will be reported generating surface defections. On the other hand, the higher is the HDT value, the higher will be the application area of the product.

For all these reasons, it is immediately clear why is extremely important well understand and to know the HDT characteristic of each resin and composite.

The tests are commonly carried out according to ISO 75 or ASTM D648 standards. In many cases, according to different certifications, producers must guarantee that the resin is able to reach an HDT value higher than 60°C, in order to use their material for nautical constructions.

To meet the requirements for this application, we recommend our HV Series, in either the manual or semi-automatic version. Three or six stations machine are available to satisfy all the test needing.

For any further detail about test set-up, procedure and results, please refer to the standard documents available from the links below.