Ignition loss

This method determines the mass of the resin by determining the ignition loss of a cured polymer composite. To achieve this a specimen of known mass is heated until the resin matrix is oxidised and converted to volatile materials. The ash is removed and the residual, assumed to be the fibre reinforcement is weighed. The fibre volume fraction is determined by knowing accurate values for the density of the fibre and the composites. Any filler not oxidised with the matrix will affect the calculation of fibre volume fraction. Similarly any volatiles such as water or residual solvent will cause errors unless they are small enough to be ignored.