Disclosed are systems and methods for providing an adiabatic power compensation differential scanning calorimeter to minimize a temperature difference between a sample and a reference. For instance, methods can include providing ramp-up heating power to heat a sample container and a reference container based on a preprogrammed temperature ramp rate; minimizing a temperature difference among the sample container, the reference container, and at least one furnace; providing compensating heat to the sample container and the reference container when a self-heating activity of the sample material is detected; providing container-only compensating heat to the sample container to block heat transfer from the sample material to the sample container once the self-heating activity of the sample material is detected; and providing compensating heat to the reference container to facilitate container-only compensating heat calculation and control.

The present disclosure relates to a method of characterizing the thermal ageing of a part made of composite material, in particular a composite material having an organic matrix. The method includes taking from the part a sample of composite material, subjecting the sample to modulated temperature differential calorimetry, determining, from the curve representing the total heat flow component associated with irreversible phenomena, the temperature at which a local extremum appears, this local extremum being characteristic of the thermal ageing, and determining the thermal ageing of the composite material by comparing the temperature at which the local extremum appears with a reference chart.

A measuring arrangement for a thermal analysis of a sample, having a crucible for storing a sample in the crucible, as well as a sensor for measuring a sample temperature of the sample when the crucible is arranged on the sensor. To reduce the risk of damages to or even the destruction of used components as a result of chemical or physical reactions, it is provided according to the invention that the measuring arrangement further has a washer arrangement, which is inserted between the crucible and the sensor and which has a first layer, which contacts the crucible, of a first material and a second layer, which contacts the sensor, of a second material, which differs from the first material. The invention further includes a method for the thermal analysis of a sample, which is performed by using such a measuring arrangement.

A method for evaluating a measurement result of a thermal analysis. A program-controlled computer unit is used to calculate at least one probability of the agreement of the measurement result with at least one dataset previously stored in the computer unit, wherein this calculation is based on a comparison of effect data previously extracted from a measurement curve of the thermal analysis with corresponding stored effect data of the dataset. The evaluation can advantageously include, an automatic recognition and classification of measurement curves and can be carried out in particular more efficiently, more economically and more quickly than previously, with at the same time a high quality of evaluation.

In order to determine a volume thermal expansion coefficient of a liquid, a sample of the liquid is placed inside a cell of a calorimeter followed by an incremental increase of pressure inside the cell containing the liquid. After each pressure increase heat flow into the cell and volume of the liquid are measured. Based on results of the measurements of the heat flow and accounting for initially evaluated cell volume, the volume thermal expansion of the liquid is determined.

Modified thermoplastic hydrocarbon thermoplastic resins are provided, as well as methods of their manufacture and uses thereof in rubber compositions. The modified thermoplastic resins are modified by decreasing the relative quantity of the dimer, trimer, tetramer, and pentamer oligomers as compared to the corresponding unmodified thermoplastic resin polymers, resulting in a product that exhibits a greater shift in the glass transition temperature of the elastomer(s) used in tire formulations. This translates to better viscoelastic predictors of tire tread performance, such as wet grip and rolling resistance. The modified thermoplastic resins impart remarkable properties on various rubber compositions, such as tires, belts, hoses, brakes, and the like. Automobile tires incorporating the modified thermoplastic resins are shown to possess excellent results in balancing the properties of rolling resistance, tire wear, snow performance, and wet braking performance.

The present disclosure provides a method of determining a relative decrease in catalytic efficacy of a catalyst in a test sample of a catalyst solution with unknown catalytic activity. The method includes (a) mixing the test sample with a test solvent to form a test mixture and (b) measuring the increase in the temperature of the test mixture at predetermined time intervals immediately after forming the test mixture. A predetermined feature is used to determine both a test value in the increase in temperature measured in (b) and a control value in a known increase in temperature of a control mixture of the test solvent with a control sample of a control catalyst solution. The relative decrease in catalytic efficacy of the catalyst in the test sample having the unknown catalytic activity is then determined from: Relative Decrease in Catalytic Efficacy=Control Value−Test Value/Control Value.

A heat flow rate measurement method for use with a differential scanning calorimeter sensor is provided. The method includes calculating a heat exchange between a plurality of sample containers and a reference container placed on a plurality of sample calorimeter units and a reference calorimeter unit, respectively, and determining a heat flow rate of samples within the sample containers using the calculated heat exchange between the plurality of sample containers and the reference container. A multiple sample differential scanning calorimeter sensor and calorimeter system are also provided.

A curable matrix resin composition containing a thermoset resin component and metastable thermoplastic particles, wherein the metastable thermoplastic particles are particles of semi-crystalline thermoplastic material with an amorphous polymer fraction that will undergo crystallization upon heating to a crystallization temperature T.sub.c. A fiber-reinforced polymeric composite material containing metastable thermoplastic particles is also disclosed.

The present invention provides: a copolymer (A) which is a copolymer obtained by copolymerizing one or plural cycloolefin monomers and one or plural acyclic olefin monomers, or a copolymer obtained by copolymerizing two or more cycloolefin monomers, wherein the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the copolymer is 100° C. or higher, the refractive index of the copolymer is 1.545 or higher, and the Abbe's number of the copolymer is 50 or larger, and at least one of the cycloolefin monomers is a deltacyclene.