Mechanical Fatigue & DMA

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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis measures the mechanical properties of materials as a function of time, temperature, and frequency. In addition to quantifying viscoelastic properties of materials, DMA’s and especially High-Force DMA instruments can also quantify finished component and product characteristics, reflecting the important contribution that processing has on end-use product performance. DMA is commonly used to measure glass transition temperatures and secondary transitions, orientation caused by processing, cold crystallization, cure optimization, filler effects in composites, and much more. DMA provides an accurate measure of material modulus and product stiffness plus other important mechanical properties such as damping, creep, and stress relaxation. High-force DMA extends the powerful DMA techniques to higher forces, larger oven sizes and larger sample fixtures to provide viscoelastic characterization of samples that should not be miniaturized as well as measuring components, assemblies or complete products.

A Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer is a mechanical instrument that applies specific displacement or force to a sample and very accurately quantifies its force versus displacement response. DMA measurements extend beyond simply quantifying the magnitude of force divided by the displacement magnitude; it accurately calculates the phase relationship between the signals. This enables a DMA instrument to quantify the elastic (spring-like) versus viscous (fluid-like) components of the sample response which is crucial for reliable and complete viscoelastic property characterization such as Storage Modulus, Loss Modulus, and Tan delta. These viscoelastic properties are almost always evaluated over a range of temperatures using oven and cooling accessories, which then can provide many insights into structure-property relationships and how materials perform at different use temperatures. Some advanced methods include TTS (Time-Temperature Superposition), curing studies, creep-recovery, and stress-relaxation analysis.

TA Instrument’s High-Force DMA series ranges from 500 N to 15,000 N of force capacity. They build upon TA’s reputation and capabilities in Dynamic Mechanical Analysis and often work side-by-side with the DMA 850 or RSA-G2 lower force instruments. With very powerful and dynamic ElectroForce linear motors, they execute demanding oscillation DMA control, plus offer ultra-reliable fatigue test capability. These High-Force DMA instruments extend the insights revealed by DMA to higher forces and sample sizes, providing valuable insights when materials cannot be miniaturized or for components or products that are larger in size. A wide range of instrument capacities and environmental control options are available to best match virtually any application requirements.

The following ElectroForce instruments can be configured for Dynamic Mechanical Analysis including Temperature Analysis.

The following ElectroForce instruments can be configured for Dynamic Mechanical Analysis at ambient or 37C temperature.