Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to the standard dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) technique. DMA measurements are intensively used to investigate the amorphous phase transitions of polymers. Not only neat polymers, but also polymer blends and polymer systems blended with fillers, plasticizers or impact improvers are investigated by DMA. Amorphous phase transitions can be measured by DMA but also by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and by thermomechanical analyzer (TMA). The DMA technique, however, offers the highest sensitivity to detect phase transition effects. This is especially useful for the investigation of secondary relaxation effects and for the determination of very weak glass-rubber transition effects. The chapter provides the DMA analysis of polypropylene/ethylene-polypropylene rubber blends. Polypropylene (PP) is often blended with ethylene/propylene (EP) rubbers to improve the impact resistance. DMA is one of the analytical techniques often used to investigate blends of polymers with an impact improver. The determination of the relation between the area of the rubber relaxation maximum as measured by DMA and the rubber concentration is usually the first step in such an investigation.
Published Version
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