Dynamic mechanical analysis typical experiments

Dynamic mechanical analyzers can be divided into resonant and defined frequency instruments. The torsion pendulum just described is, for example, a resonant instrument. The schematic of a defined-frequency instrument is shown in Fig. 4.155. The basic elements are the force generator and the strain meter. Signals of both are collected by the module CPU, the central processing unit, and transmitted to the computer for data evaluation. The diagram is drawn after a commercial DMA which was produced by Seiko. At the bottom of Fig. 4.155, a typical sample behavior for a DMA experiment is sketched. An applied sinusoidal stress, o, is followed with a phase lag, 6, by the strain, e. The analysis of such data in terms of the dynamic moduli (stress-strain ratios, see Fig. 4.143) at different frequencies and temperature is the subject of DMA. 

Table 5.3 lists the principal experimental methods used in dynamic mechanical testing. Of the experiments considered below, the thermal scan mode (method 1) is the technique most commonly used by thermal analysts. Here typical applications in quality control or processing look for differences in material batches, thermal history, different grades, reactivity, and other characteristics. The stepped isotherm (or step isothermal) experiment (method 2) is used mainly in studies involving detailed mechanical property determination for structural analysis, vibration damping applications, and for determining time-temperature superposition master curves. Method 3 (fast scan or single isotherm) is application specific. 

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