Design of a Static Temperature Scanning Ultrasonic Measurement System and Application to Multi-phase Polymer Systems

Abstract

Abstract A static bench ultrasonic setup was designed and implemented after due consideration for the heat transfer characteristics. The set up allows the measurement of the temperature profile of pertinent ultrasonic variables. The ultrasonic attenuation-temperature profiles in a few compositions of a partially miscible blend of Poly(α-methyl styrene acrylonitrile)/Poly(methyl methacrylate), as well as a PVC compound filled with mineral calcium carbonate fillers of three different particle sizes were followed using this set up. It was found that as the temperature was increased, the attenuation decreases with increase in the PαMSAN content of the blend, reached a peak and then decreases with further temperature increase. The peak value occurred in the 1-phase region while the peak temperature increases with PαMSAN content in the chosen blends. In the filled PVC system, the attenuation also increases with filler loading, especially within the vicinity of typical processing temperatures. The ultrasound technique, if applied to polymer processing, looks promising especially in closed regions along processing equipments.