Materials Science and Engineering Research Facilities

• PTI Pulstar 804 commercial pultruder with enhanced pull speed (120 inches/min) and pull and clamp pressure capacity (10,000 lbs); data acquisition of all process conditions
• Slitter for automatic cutting of mat and fabric to proper size for pultrusion
• McLean Anderson Little Hornet computer controlled filament winder capable of parts up to 24" in diameter and 40" in length
• MTS 110, 22, and 5 kip fatigue-rated material test systems with 5 inch stroke and with TestStar and TestWorks computer control and acquisition packages along with fixtures for standard mechanical property tests including tension, compression, flex (3 and 4 point), short-beam shear, Iosipescu shear, and fatigue and temperature chamber
• MTS 55 kip fatigue rated large frame material test system with 10 inch stroke (single 30 gpm pump) and SE electronic control system and software.
• Tinius Olsen 10,000 in-lb torsion machine with computer control and analysis
• hardness testers - Rockwell, Knoop, Vickers, Shore durometer, and Barcol
• Photoelastic analysis system
• TA modulated differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) to measure thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and standard DSC parameters
• TA modulated thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) system for measurement of weight change as a function of temperature and decomposition kinetics
• TA Rheometrics AHRES rheometer for studying the rheological characteristics of polymers/composites
• Temperature controlled Brookfield viscometer
• Nikon optical microscopes with digital imaging, computer image analysis, and manual and automatic mounting/polishing equipment
• JEOL 6100 SEM with Oxford-Link EDS and image analysis software
• Extensive computer acquisition and analysis equipment connected through a Composite Materials Research Group network to the University supercomputer and the Internet
• Photonetics 1450 fiber optic pressure sensor
• Micromet Instruments Eumetric 100A dielectrometer for measuring degree of cure within a pultrusion die
• Thermotron SE-300-2-2 and SE-600-5-5 temperature and humidity control environmental chambers