Curve Interpretation Part 7: DMA Combined with Results from Other Thermal Analysis Techniques

DMA measurements provide many different possibilities for characterizing materials. This article shows how DMA in combination with other thermal analysis techniques can be used to comprehensively characterize materials using different polymers as examples.

Introduction

Materials are often characterized by measuring their mechanical properties. In this respect, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) plays an important role. Since mechanical quantities are very sensitive to structural changes, DMA can be used to quantitatively analyze changes in structure. In many reactions and transitions, the mechanical properties exhibit large changes.

For example, the storage modulus of an unfilled polymer changes by several orders of magnitude when the polymer softens. This change can be used to detect glass transitions with good resolution even in highly filled materials.

In this article, we will concentrate on the dynamic mechanical analysis of polymers and composite materials containing polymer constituents. After a short description of the measurement, we will demonstrate how other analysis methods can be used to obtain additional information about the materials investigated.

Combination of DMA Measurements with Other Methods of Thermal Analysis

The basic principles of the DMA measurement are described in [1, 2]. In a DMA measurement, the frequency, amplitude, and temperature can be varied. This allows a material to be characterized in great detail. Measurements can also be performed in different spatial directions or using different measurement modes. This, in turn, allows additional information to be obtained, especially with composite materials.

DMA measurements are frequently combined with other methods of thermal analysis, either to obtain further information or to correctly interpret the DMA curves. In the following sections, we will discuss some typical examples.

Conclusions

DMA can be used to perform a large number of different experiments and thereby provides a great deal of information about materials. The information content of DMA measurements can be significantly increased when it is used in conjunction with other measurement methods.

_{Curve Interpretation Part 7: DMA Combined with Results from Other Thermal Analysis Techniques | Thermal Analysis Application No. UC 441 | Application published in METTLER TOLEDO Thermal Analysis UserCom 44}