Acquisition of a rheometer, part of the new "System for characterization of the mechanical response of advanced materials at different dimensional scales"

The BBT research group has acquired a rheometer, part of the new "System for characterizing the mechanical response of advanced materials at different dimensional scales" of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (CEM), co-funded by the National Agency for Research (AEI) with EU ERDF Funds, through the State Subprogramme of Research Infrastructures and Scientific-Technical Equipment (Government of Spain).

The new mechanical response characterization system consists of three modules that aim to cover requirements for the evaluation of the elastic, viscoelastic and plastic behavior of different advanced materials in a wide range of dimensional scales. The three modules refer to a nanoindenter with high data acquisition capacity (CIEFMA), a deformation measurement equipment using DIC (PROCOMAME), and a modular rheometer (BBT). This integral service unit allows to complement interdisciplinarity with transversality to optimize the microstructural design of metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, (bio) -inks, coatings and hydrogels.

The third module of this system consists of a rheometer that allows to measure the rheological and viscoelastic properties of biotints and metallic, ceramic, compound and hydrogel inks. The equipment we have acquired controls the tension and deformation applied to a material, and accurately measures the normal force, allowing to characterize the rheological properties of very low viscosity soft materials, depending on the geometry and size of the plate. measurement.
To determine properties of materials with low viscosity values (e.g., hydrogels), low mechanical strength, or even in small quantities, it is critical to be able to apply low torque values.