Shrinkage Measurements of UV‐Curable Adhesives
Titel Supplements
An elegant method based on a laser distance sensor for in‐situ measurements of the polymerization shrinkage
Abstract
Curing processes of any adhesive are always accompanied with its volumetric change, known as polymerization shrinkage. Although the relative volume change is usually less than a few percent, shrinkage is particularly problematic for applications where sub‐mm positioning is required, such as bonding of micro‐optics or optical fibers. We present a simple method to precisely measure the linear shrinkage of UV‐curable adhesives based on optical distance measurement. The method allows to observe in situ the dynamics of the shrinkage process.
