ISO 11359-2 Plastics — Thermomechanical Analysis (TMA) — Part 2: Determination of Linear Coefficient of Thermal Expansion and Glass Transition Temperature

This part of the ISO 11359 standard, developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO), specifies a test method using thermodilatometry for the determination of the coefficient of linear thermal expansion by thermomechanical analysis (TMA) of solid-state plastics. It also specifies the determination of the glass transition temperature using TMA.

The linear coefficient of thermal expansion can be measured using various thermodilatometry apparatus. This part of ISO 11359 deals only with the TMA apparatus. The edition of the normative document referred to in this part of ISO 11359 applies.

Thermomechanical Analysis (TMA) is one of the most common techniques that measures the dimensional changes of solid or liquid materials as a function of temperature, time and applied force. TMA is generally used to measure the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE), glass transition temperature (Tg), and modulus of compression of a material by applying constant force at varying temperature. TMA is a sub-discipline of the Thermomechanometry (TM) technique.

The simplest test is zero-force thermomechanical analysis, often referred to as thermodilatometric analysis (TDA). It measures the dimensional change of the sample by heating or cooling it due to active/deactive atomic and molecular vibrations. This measurement gives the coefficient of linear expansion, which is the partial increase in length per unit increase in temperature. Another important test is the creep and creep recovery test in polymeric materials.

In this test, the sample is loaded and unloaded over time to measure creep and creep recovery. The measurement of the glass transition temperature (Tg) is also one of the most important applications. During Tg analysis, the dimensional change of a polymeric material as a function of temperature at constant pressure or as a function of pressure at constant temperature is measured.

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