Brown, C S; Hobbs, C B; Spitteler, P (2000) Monitoring processing of reactive polymer systems using ultrasonics. NPL Report. CMMT(A)261

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Abstract

Ultrasonic equipment to monitor the processing of reactive polymer systems has been upgraded to operate in a fully automatic mode and to monitor changes in peak height as well as the time of flight of ultrasonic pulses. Changes in time of flight can be measured to within one nanosecond. The system can therefore measure ultrasonic velocity very accurately which is directly related to the modulus of the material. As the modulus of the material changes during cure, the ultrasonic method can be used to monitor cure. Transducers have been mounted in industrial processing equipment (e.g. injection and compression moulds) and the performance of the equipment assessed. In one case it was shown that the ultrasonic monitoring equipment was able to identify optimum processing conditions. This has commercial implications for reducing cycle times to improve efficiency and in enhanced quality assurance. In three other cases promising results were obtained which indicated the potential of the equipment to lead to operating cost savings to the companies concerned.

Item Type:	Report/Guide (NPL Report)
NPL Report No.:	CMMT(A)261
Subjects:	Advanced Materials Advanced Materials > Polymers
Last Modified:	02 Feb 2018 13:17
URI:	http://eprintspublications.npl.co.uk/id/eprint/1614

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