TMA Q Series Getting Started Guide
12
• The weight tray, located behind the weight tray door, holds the weights to exert an additional known force
on the sample.
• The CHROMEL®*/ALUMEL®* sample thermocouple senses the temperature of the sample.
The TMA was developed by TA Instruments with the following features:
• Operates over a temperature range of –150
o
C to 1000
o
C using heating rates up to 200
o
C/min
• Determines changes in sample properties resulting from changes in four experimental variables:
temperature, force, atmosphere, and time
• Uses samples that can be in solid, film, fiber, or powder form
• Employs interchangeable probes, allowing you to measure the melting point, softening point, tensile
modulus, compression modulus, glass transition, stress relaxation, creep, and expansion coefficient.
• Allows additional experiments in parallel plate rheometry, fiber tension, shrinkage force, flexure, and
dilatometry with the optional accessories that can be used with the instrument.
Standard Accessories
The accessory kit supplied with the TMA contains weights, a sample holder (stage), a hex wrench, tweezers,
samples for calibration, and standard probes.
The standard probes allow you to perform various basic analyses. These probes are as follows:
• The expansion probes are used to measure the thermal coefficient of expansion and glass transition. The
standard expansion probe is used for routine samples. The macro expansion probe covers a larger area of
the sample surface and is therefore able to give a more representative reading for samples such as
powders, materials with uneven surfaces, frozen liquids, and films.
• The penetration probe, which has a small tip that permits it to sink into the material as it is heated, is used
to measure softening and melting points.
• Optional probes are also available, see page 21.
Subambient Operation
The TMA can be used to run experiments on cooled samples with a cooling source such as liquid nitrogen
contained in the reservoir. In addition, a Mechanical Cooling Accessory is available, see page 21.
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