STUDIES OF THERMAL BEHAVIOR OF POLYMERS BY TORSIONAL BRAID ANALYSIS

The application of the torsional braid technique to the thermal analysis of polymers (and monomers) is demonstrated. Included in this work are details of a visual method for estimating the dynamic mechanical damping factor of a freely oscillating system. Studies of a thermoplastic polymer and a thermosettiiig resin are presented in which their thermal behavior is demonstrated with respect to first and second order transitions, cure, thermal crosslinking and degradation. Isotactic polypropylene is studied as an example of a semi crystalline thermoplastic polymer. The monomer 1,3,5-tria. crylylhexahydro-8-triazine represents an example of a thermosetting material. The dynamic mechanical data are compared with the results obtained by differential thermal analysis, thermo-gravimetric analysis, and infrared spectroscopy.