Described are a method and device for controlling a temperature of a sample. The sample may be a rheometer sample. A thermal control system comprising a geometry element, heat conductor element, heater element, cooling device and thermal resistance layer is used. The cooling device may be a Peltier element. The heat conductor element is disposed adjacent to and in thermal communication with the geometry element. The heater element is in thermal contact with the heat conductor element. The thermal resistance layer is disposed between and in thermal contact with an element surface of the heat conductor element and a cooling surface of the cooling device. The heater element is operated to cause heat to flow to the geometry element and the cooling device is operated to cool the cooling surface to a temperature that is less than a temperature of the element surface.

The invention relates to a rotational shear rheometer (1) comprising a first plate (10), a first flexure (11) pivotally connecting the first plate (10) to a support (60), a piezoelectric element (40) extending along a longitudinal axis (L) arranged tangentially in respect of the first plate (10), wherein said piezoelectric element (40) is configured to elongate and/or undergo compression along said longitudinal axis (L), and wherein said first end (41) is mechanically coupled to said first plate (10), wherein said first flexure (11) comprises a first flexural element (12) and a second flexural element (13) non-parallel to the first flexural element (12), wherein the first flexural element (12) and the second flexural element (13) connect said first plate (10) to said support (60), extend radially in respect of the pivot axis (P) and intersect with the pivot axis (P), wherein said piezoelectric element (40) is further configured as a sensor capable of detecting a torque acting on said first plate (10). Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for determining mechanical properties of a sample using the rotational shear rheometer.

A rheology system includes a rheometer including a lower plate and an upper plate, a manipulator including an arm, a loading end effector, a cleaning end effector, and a controller communicatively coupled to the rheometer and the manipulator, the controller including a processor and a computer readable and executable instruction set, which when executed, causes the processor to direct the manipulator to couple the loading end effector to the arm, direct the manipulator engage a specimen with the loading end effector, direct the manipulator to position the specimen on the lower plate of the rheometer, direct the upper plate to engage the specimen between the upper plate and the lower plate, direct the manipulator to couple the cleaning end effector to the arm, and direct the manipulator to engage the lower plate with the cleaning end effector.

A method for non-destructively estimating an average size of scattering particles in a sample, including: transmitting, using a coherent light source, polarized light to the sample; obtaining, using a detector, polarized light reflected from the sample, the polarized light comprising a parallel polarized component and a perpendicular polarized component; determining, using a processor, speckle decorrelation rates for the parallel polarized component and the perpendicular polarized component; and estimating, using the processor, the average size of scattering particles in the sample based on the speckle decorrelation rates for the parallel polarized component and the perpendicular polarized component.

A process for evaluating rheological characteristics of an injectable gel including measuring the flexibility, wherein the flexibility is evaluated by measuring the strain at the crossover point of the amplitude sweep. The process may include subjecting an injectable gel to oscillating mechanical stresses to determine G′ and G″ as a function of strain (γ) in an amplitude sweep, determining the crossover point as the point at which G′ and G″ have the same value, determining the strain γ.sub.cross at the crossover point, and determining the flexibility of the injectable gel as γ.sub.cross or proportional to γ.sub.cross. Further, a method of comparison of dermal fillers by measuring their flexibility and a method of evaluation of dermal filler behavior in human skin by measuring the flexibility.

Methods and systems for characterizing multiple parameters of viscous fluid simultaneously are provided. By imposing an oscillatory deformation profile on a filament formed of the viscous fluid between two plates, a nonlinear fit to the deformation profile captured at different times is analyzed against a filament model dependent upon the plates radius, viscous fluid density, and the oscillation frequency of the imposed deformation profile. The Reynolds number, Weber number, and the aspect ratio of the viscous fluid are thus determined, for identifying the Newtonian fluid.

A method for determining the sticky point of powder samples includes introducing a sample into a first measuring part, placing a second measuring part above the first measuring part to delimit a sample chamber, using a motor to drive the measuring parts relative to one another, using a force application unit to exert a force on the sample normal to a rotational plane of the measuring parts, using a measuring unit to record a torque or shear stress of the sample between the measuring parts, using a temperature-control unit or oven to apply a temperature profile to the sample while measuring the torque or shear stress, and supplying recorded measured values of the torque or shear stress and the sample temperature at measuring points to an evaluation unit. The evaluation unit determines the sticky point from the measured values of the torque or shear stress and the temperature.

The present application relates generally to moving die rheometers, and more particularly to moving die rheometers that employ a variable eccentric cam. In one aspect, the eccentricity produced by the cam may be adjusted using shims of different thickness to alter the position of the post on the cam.

Described are a method and device for controlling a temperature of a sample. The sample may be a rheometer sample. A thermal control system comprising a geometry element, heat conductor element, heater element, cooling device and thermal resistance layer is used. The cooling device may be a Peltier element. The heat conductor element is disposed adjacent to and in thermal communication with the geometry element. The heater element is in thermal contact with the heat conductor element. The thermal resistance layer is disposed between and in thermal contact with an element surface of the heat conductor element and a cooling surface of the cooling device. The heater element is operated to cause heat to flow to the geometry element and the cooling device is operated to cool the cooling surface to a temperature that is less than a temperature of the element surface.

A method for evaluating the rheological properties of at least one gel, consisting in determining the extent of the plastic domain in stress ζ.sub.c−ζ.sub.p, and in strain γ.sub.c−γ.sub.p, the determination being carried out according to the steps: subjecting at least one sample of at least one gel to oscillating mechanical stresses at a fixed frequency, determining and plotting curves of the elastic modulus G′ and the viscous modulus G″ as a function of the strain and stress, determining ζ.sub.c and ζ.sub.p at the point of intersection X.sub.c of the curves of G′ and G″ under stress and strain, determining ζ.sub.p and γ.sub.p by fixing an arbitrary value of G′ (G′x) that is defined as the entry value into the plastic domain, and calculating ζ.sub.c−ζ.sub.p and γ.sub.c−γ.sub.p.