Capabilities include:
- Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) DSC Q100
- Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA/DSC) Q600
- Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) Q 800
- Dielectric Analysis (DEA) DEA 2970 Dielectric Analyser
- TA instruments AR2000 Rheometer
DSC is used to measure temperature and heat flow associated with material transitions providing quantitative and qualitative data on endothermic and exothermic processes. Glass transitions, Melting points, Crystallisation, Rate of cure, Degree of cure, Purity, Thermal stability. DSC provides important information that can be used to characterise materials, selection of best materials for specific applications, provides ability to predict product performance, optimisation of processing conditions and to improve quality.
TGA used to characterise thermal decomposition behaviour. Provides information on fibre volume fraction of composites, thermal stability, temperature of on-set of degradation, oxidative degradation and composition of polymer blends.
DMA measures changes in the viscoelastic properties of materials resulting from changes in temperature, frequency, and time. It can be used for measuring glass transition and secondary transition temperatures, understanding and optimising curing phenomena in thermosets, predicting physical ageing of amorphous materials and correlating impact stability and damping.
DEA Provides valuable information about molecular and rheological behaviour of materials. DEA can characterise molecular relaxations, monitor the flow and cure of resins, and calculate activation energies for molecular relaxations. It is an ultrasensitive technique making it possible to detect transitions which are not seen by other techniques.
Rheology is the study of what happens to viscosity as measurement conditions change. Viscosity can change dramatically as a function of shear and shear history for polymer solutions. Rheological behaviours are exploited to give products desired characteristics
