Prepreg curing process for preparing composites having superior surface finish and high fiber consolidation

1. A process for curing a prepreg, comprising the steps of:

providing a prepreg comprising a thermosetting resin composition and fiber, wherein the thermosetting resin composition comprises oxazines and one or more of epoxies, episulfides, oxetanes, thioxetanes, maleimides, nadimides, itaconimides, cyanate esters, and oxazolines, and the fiber is made from polyacrylonitrile, pitch, rayon or acrylic;

placing the prepreg under reduced pressure of greater than 686 mm Hg (13.3 psi);

exposing the prepreg under reduced pressure to a first elevated temperature of about 200° F. for a time of about 2 hours to remove substantially all volatile materials in the prepreg;

optionally, exposing the prepreg under reduced pressure to a second elevated temperature of about 290° F. for a time of about 3 hours to remove any remaining volatile materials in the prepreg;

exposing the prepreg under reduced pressure to a third elevated temperature of about 360° F. for a time of about 2 hours to cure the prepreg; and

exposing the cured prepreg with or without reduced pressure to a fourth elevated temperature condition of about 90° F.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the volatile materials include entrapped air, water and other low boiling materials.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the any remaining volatile materials include water, high boiling residual solvents and/or monomeric volatile materials.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the fiber is carbon having been sized with a benzoxazine-containing sizing agent.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the thermosetting resin composition is an oxazine and comprises one or more benzoxazines.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the oxazine is a benzoxazine comprising one or more of

wherein X is selected from the group consisting of a direct bond, CH 2 , C(CH 3 ) 2 , C═O, S, S═O and O═S═O, and R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are the same or different and are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl and aryl, and

wherein R is alkyl or aryl and R 4 is selected from hydrogen, halogen, alkyl and alkenyl.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the oxazine is a benzoxazine comprising one or more of:

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the cured prepreg is storage stable at room temperature.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the cured prepreg shows using c-scan substantially no detectable voids larger than approximately ⅛ inch.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the cured prepreg shows total void content of less than about 2% by volume determined by acid digestion using ASTM 3171-11.