A method for analyzing semifinished products including reinforcing fibers having an essentially unidirectional orientation and a thermoplastic resin, including a first and a second test for measuring the thickness of a stack of semifinished products over time during the compression thereof and for determining the equivalent homogeneous viscosity of the stack; determining the total thickness reduction of the stack of semifinished products during the first test; determining the ratio of the equivalent homogeneous viscosity of the stack from the second test to the equivalent homogeneous viscosity of the stack from the first test; and determining the ratio of the thickness of the stack from the first test after a reference time starting from the moment of the onset of melting of the stack of semifinished products, to the thickness of the stack from the first test at the moment of the onset of melting of the stack of semifinished products.

A method and system for sensing and controlling temperature with magnetic fields are provided. The method comprises placing a compound in thermal communication with a number of temperature or heat sources and placing a number of magnets in thermal communication with the compound. A number of magnetic sensors are placed in electromagnetic communication with the number of magnets. Changes in the magnetic field of the magnets are detected by the sensors and used to determine the temperature of the compound according to a model that maps magnetic field characteristics to temperature. The amount of cure of the compound can then be estimated from the temperature. The temperature or heat sources are controlled in response to the temperature measurement and the estimated amount of cure of the compound.

Systems and methods for accurate characterization of the mechanical properties of ultra-soft materials in the meso/macro-length scale are provided. Through the use of a millimeter-scale, ultra-high molecular weight indenter probe, accurate mechanical characterization of ultra-soft materials on the centimeter-scale can be achieved. The indenter probe can capture the adhesion forces present during the approach and detachment segments of the indentation process.

Concrete can be one of the most durable building materials where consumption is projected to reach approximately 40 billion tons in 2017 alone. Despite this the testing of concrete at all stages of its life cycle is still in its infancy although testing for corrosion is well established. Further many of the tests today are time consuming, expensive, and provide results only after it has been poured and set. Accordingly, by exploiting self-contained wireless sensor devices, which are deployed with the wet concrete, the in-situ curing and maturity measurement data can be established and employed together with batch specific concrete data to provide rapid initial tests and evolving performance data regarding the concrete cure, performance, corrosion of concrete at different points in its life cycle. Such sensors remove subjectivity, allow for rapid assessment, are integrable to the construction process, and provided full life cycle assessment.

Concrete can be one of the most durable building materials where consumption is projected to reach approximately 40 billion tons in 2017 alone. Despite this the testing of concrete at all stages of its life cycle is still in its infancy although testing for corrosion is well established. Further many of the tests today are time consuming, expensive, and provide results only after it has been poured and set. Accordingly, by exploiting self-contained wireless sensor devices, which are deployed with the wet concrete, the in-situ curing and maturity measurement data can be established and employed together with batch specific concrete data to provide rapid initial tests and evolving performance data regarding the concrete cure, performance, corrosion of concrete at different points in its life cycle. Such sensors remove subjectivity, allow for rapid assessment, are integrable to the construction process, and provided full life cycle assessment.

A method for detecting or comparing mechanical strength of macro-molecular polymer materials. The detecting method has the steps of measuring the mechanical strength and the maximum value of the fluorescence absorption spectrum of each of the plurality of samples to form a curve relationship or function relationship between the maximum value of the fluorescence absorption spectrum and the mechanical strength; measuring the maximum value of the fluorescence absorption spectrum of the target material, and using the curve relationship or the function relationship to obtain the mechanical strength of the target material. The plurality of samples and the target material are both prepared from a macro-molecular polymer, and the macro-molecular polymer may be composed of disulfonate-difluorobenzophenone, hydroxyindole and difluorobenzophenone as monomers, and the sulfonate groups of the disulfonate-difluorobenzophenone have metal cations. An object of the method is to identify mechanical properties of polymer materials by fluorescence nondestructive detection.

Disclosed are an apparatus for measuring an in-situ crosslink density includes a support configured to fix or support a cross-linkable structure, a light source configured to irradiate light for crosslinking to the cross-linkable structure, and a probe configured to provide in-situ micro-deformation to the cross-linkable structure, wherein the in-situ crosslink density of the cross-linkable structure is measured from a stress-strain phase lag of the cross-linkable structure by the in-situ micro-deformation, a method of measuring the in-situ crosslink density, a method of manufacturing a crosslinked product, a crosslinked product obtained by the method, and a polymer substrate and an electronic device including the crosslinked product.

A method and apparatus is disclosed for compensating for a reduction of die cavity pressure in a torsional rheometer caused by shrinkage of the test sample. In one embodiment, a compliant member is placed in series with load-bearing components of the rheometer. This compliant member deflects when pressure in the die cavity is reduced resulting in the die cavity becoming smaller to increase the pressure within the die cavity.

An apparatus to determine the swollen cross-link density of a polymeric specimen. The apparatus includes a support structure, a fluid-holding structure to hold a solvent, a first gripping assembly engaged with a weight scale and adapted to grip a specimen and a second gripping assembly adapted to grip the specimen. The fluid-holding structure is attached to a multi-stage device attached to the support structure and displaceable upward or downward. A mechanism supported by the support structure and engaged with the multi-stage device and configured to displace the multi-stage device in fine gradations. When a specimen is gripped by the gripping assemblies and submerged in the solvent and the mechanism displaces the multi-stage device downward, a tensile force is exerted on the specimen. The tensile force is measured by a displacement gauge.

A system and a method of monitoring physical properties of a physical medium over time are provided herein. The method may include the following steps: embedding a plurality of acoustic sensors into a physical medium before curing thereof; transmitting an acoustic wave by at least one transmitter coupled to or embedded within said physical medium; repeatedly calculating, over different points of time, a travel time of said acoustic wave between the at least one transmitter and the plurality of acoustic sensors; and analyzing said travel times, to detect a change over time in physical properties of said physical medium associated with said travel time.