Abaris selects Premier ESR to optimize composite cure cycles

Alpha Technologies (Hudson, Ohio, U.S.), a polymer testing and analysis company, has announced that Abaris Training Resources Inc. has installed the company’s Premier encapsulated sample rheometer (ESR) at its Reno, Nev., U.S. facility.

Abaris is a prominent training and services firm with locations in the U.S., Europe and South America. It offers versatile advanced composites learning opportunities through in-house and client-location programs, focusing on hands-on skill development. Additionally, the company provides engineering consultation and technical assistance, aiding clients in optimizing their production processes and addressing existing issues.

The ESR technology was developed to address the needs of the composites industry and enables precise characterization of materials and cure properties using isothermal or non-isothermal temperature profiles. Unlike differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) testing, ESR technology captures the actual building of mechanical properties instead of just the progress of the reaction. Compared with standard parallel plate rheometers, the sealed design of the ESR is said to significantly reduce slippage that causes unwanted variation in measurement. 

“Our Premier ESR meets ASTM D7750 and provides a cost-effective method to cure composite material specimens under any cure cycle necessary,” Richard Hanzlik, product manager at Alpha Technologies, adds. “It uses viscoelastic measurements to determine characteristics such as gel, cure and final product properties from those conditions. It can also measure the rheological effects of stacked fiber resin matrices up to 4 millimeters thick and estimate the impact that different layup configurations will have on the entire matrix-plus-fiber system.”

Abaris will use the Premier ESR to characterize a variety of materials — composite prepregs, powders, liquids, pellets and resins — in a single test based on encapsulated rheometry. The Premier ESR unit will be used for the service and consultation side of its business and will also employ the unit for in-house training in cure management and process control for composites.

“After seeing the Premier ESR at the SAMPE Conference this year, and doing some further investigation, we understood that this instrument would be essential to developing cure models that utilize temperature and pressure cycles more accurately and efficiently,” says Louis Dorworth, direct services manager at Abaris and a professional member of SAMPE since 1982. “Not only can we now optimize cure cycles, but we can also identify material performance and reduce testing requirements. Finally, working with Alpha Technologies as an industry partner will create synergies for both of us.”