Simon 9500318 This is a Research Equipment Grant for the purchase of a Perkin Elmer DSC-7 differential scanning calorimeter and an upgrade for the PI's Perkin Elmer DMA-7 dynamic mechanical analyzer. The DSC-7 will replace a twenty-year-old DSC-2. The DSC-7 has faster cooling and heating rates, better temperature control, improved sensitivity, and improved data analysis. The upgrade of the Perkin-Elmer DMA-7 to a DMA-7e is necessary in order to facilitate the measurement of glassy and high-modulus materials far below the glass transition temperature and to improve measurements of creep in the vicinity of Tg where films cannot be used. Projects which will entail the use of these instruments include an investigation of the effects of network constraints on the properties of thermosetting polymers in the glassy state. Other projects which will benefit from the upgrade include investigations of the effect of cure cycles on the internal stress of thermosetting materials, a project on the physical aging of polymers, and project on the interaction of moisture and chemical and physical aging in polycyanurate materials.
