Testing Equipment

Abrasion

Din Method Common test which involves abrading a plug of material across a rotating drum of abrasive paper, whilst a constant force keeps the plug down. Tests performed in accordance to ASTM D5963 / ISO4649 / DIN 53516
Taber Method Similar to above, but the item being tested is shaped as a flat disc which is rotated by use of a abrasive wheel.

Adhesion (see Tensile Strength)

BK Dry Time Recorder

This is used to measure the cure time of thin coatings. The method involves smearing a coating sample over a test piece, which is then subjected to a needle test to determine the length of time required for the sample to go through different phases of curing.

Closed Cell Content

Polyurethane foams are made up of millions of cells or bubbles. In the case of flexible foams, the cells are largely open to allow the foam to breathe when compressed, as in the case of cushion foams. However in the case of rigid insulation or buoyancy foams, the preference is for more closed cells to keep in the valuable insulation gases, or keep out the water in the case of buoyancy foams.

Coefficient of Friction Tester

Cast elastomers can be modified to show different levels of friction. For example a urethane wheel must have more grip levels than a sliding abrasion mining screen. So this equipment is used to measure the static and kinetic friction of polymers against a great variety of substrates.

Compressive Strength (see Tensile Strength)

DMA 8000

Dynamic Mechanical Analysis, otherwise known as DMA, is a technique where a small deformation is applied to a sample in a cyclic manner. This allows the materials response to stress, temperature, frequency and other values to be studied. The term is also used to refer to the analyzer that performs the test. DMA is also called DMTA for Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis.

Used for the characterization of materials’ bulk properties such as modulus, compliance and damping (tan delta). It measures changes of viscoelastic behavior under dynamic conditions as a function of temperature, time, frequency, stress, atmosphere or a combination of these parameters.

Benefits include:

Unparalleled sampling flexibility
Rotating head for ease of use
Efficient and low cost cooling
TMA capability
Integration of a fluid bath for immersion
Expandable to include humidity studies
Optical window for UV/Light curing
Material pockets for powder samples

Density

For density measurement using Archimede's principle.

DSC

DSC is short for Differential Scanning Calorimetry. The equipment is able to analyse solid samples for specific heat related properties. These include glass transition temperatures (Tg), melting temperatures (Tm), oxidation times, crystallization states and cross linking determination.

Dynamic Wheel Testing

Also referred to as the Loaded Wheel Tester (LWT). This machine applies specific load, speed and therefore kinetic and frictional forces to a wheel, to allow the chemists to determine how the elastomer will perform under stressful conditions

Electrical Resistivity

Used to determine the electrical resistance of polyurethanes, which need to conform to particular requirements for applications such as underground mining use.

Elongation (see Tensile Strength)

Flash Point Tester

This machine measures the temperature at which point a liquid raw material “flashes” when exposed to a naked flame. Each country has different regulations on what an accepted flash point level is before the product must be marked as FLAMMABLE for transport.

Flex Tester

This machine is designed to repeatedly flex and relax a strip sample of elastomer over many thousands of cycles. The samples are tested to destruction, which can sometimes mean many weeks or months of continual testing.

Foam Profiling

The equipment intimately profiles a polyurethane foam from the point it is mixed through to its full cure. It accurately plots properties such as Rise Profile, Reaction Temperature, Pressure Exerted, % of cure reached, rise height, and shrinkage.

FTIR

FTIR, or Fourier Transform Infrared Analysis, is able to look at any material and confirm the wavelength of chemical groups present. On a practical level, it assists in confirming the chemical backbones of solid pieces of elastomer. This is useful when processors want to replace an elastomer piece made many years ago, when they can’t recall what chemical backbone they used originally to product the part.

Hardness (Shore A and D scale)

One of the easiest ways of categorizing polymers is through hardness. The equipment used to test this is known as a Durometer, which basically indents the sample with a needle. The amount of indentation move then reflects the hardness of the sample. The most common scales used for hardness are Shore A for most elastomers and Shore D for high hardness elastomers. Soft gels and foams can be measured on the Shore 00 scale.

Impact Resistence

This IZOD Impact Tester is designed to determine if a material meets specific impact properties, or to compare materials for general toughness. A swinging pendulum applied a constant force and impact to a sample, with the breaking force or resistance to braking being measured accurately by the equipment.

Insulation Testing

Often referred to as the “k-factor” machine as this measures the constant k-factor, or thermal conductivity, in accordance to ASTM C518. The k-factor is a measure of the insulation performance of a foam. From this factor, it is able to calculate the R-value, or thermal resistance, of a product over a known sample thickness.

Micrometer

Many of the tests and calculations used on the Tensile Strength machine, rely accurately on the cross sectional area and thickness of the prepared sample, which is measured electronically using the micrometer.

QUV

The QUV Weatherometer is an instrument which can expose samples to constant cycles of high level UV exposure and water spray. Samples are often tested continuously for months to replicate outdoor conditions, then checked for any deterioration.

Resilience

Resilience (Elastomers)

Elastomers can be formulated with high resilence for applications which require high rebound, or low resilience for applications which require a dampened polymer. This machine confirms accurately the rebound resilience of a cast sample of elastomer.

Resilience (Foams)

This is a similar rebound test as above, but in this case the test is applicable to samples of flexible foam products. Useful in testing pieces of seating cushion foam for example.

Tensile

The two Instron machines at Era are cabable of testing for multiple properties. These include tensile strength, elongation, adhesion, flexure, peel strength, shear testing and compression testing.

XRF

XRF, or X-Ray Fluorescence, is able to analyse solid samples of many elastomers for qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of the curative amounts used. On a practical level, it is most commonly used to check the MOCA or Ethacure 300 contents used in solid pieces of elastomer.