 |
This controlled stress rheometer, dubbed the
HiTech Machine, was designed and build by Dan Plazek. It's unique design
utilizes a completely frictionless rotor, held in place by a magnetic field,
and rotated by a drag cup assembly.
The sample chamber is completely enclosed in a convection oven, making
temperature control quite simple. The oven is capable of controlling the
temperature between room temp. and 200C.
Additionally, the sample holder
itself is enclosed, which prevents any sort of solvent contamination or
evaporation during testing. For this reason, the HiTech Machine is ideal for
studying polymer solutions with volatile solvents.
The rheometer is interfaced with MTS TestStar software, and the drag cup
motor is controlled by a Chroma Programmable AC Voltage source. It can
easily apply torque in the range of 3 to 100 dyne-cm.
Currently, the rheometer can accurately measure the viscosities on the order
of a cP, however there is no maximum limit. |