A 1‐D through‐the‐thickness transient heat transfer model is built to simulate the curing process of thick‐walled glass‐fibre‐reinforced anionic polyamide‐6 (APA‐6) composites. The temperature and the degree of polymerisation through the thickness of the composite are calculated and compared to the experimentally obtained results. The kinetic models describing the polymerisation behaviour of APA‐6 are implemented in the model. The kinetic model not taking into account the convection in the polymerisation process shows the best results. It is found that the predicted temperature profiles agree well with the experimental data.

Semi-adiabatic temperature measurements are recorded and used to define semi-empirical equations for the simulation and prediction of the anionic polyamide-6 (APA-6) reaction kinetics. The resin mixture used has a long infusion window before the reaction starts. The prediction of the induction time and its corresponding initial temperature of reaction is explored. By means of this semi-empirical approach and an optimised fitting procedure, the reaction kinetics of APA-6 can successfully be described. The adiabatic polymerisation can be predicted on the basis of an autocatalytic Kamal-Sourour model for thermoset resins, and the crystallisation can be described using the isothermal crystallisation model.