REAL TIME DYNAMIC ANALYZER FOR QUALITY CONTROL OF RUBBER PRODUCTS

A SYSTEM FOR RAPID MEASUREMENT OF EFFECTIVE DYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF ELASTOMERIC PARTS (INCLUDING FINISHED PARTS FOR QUALITY CONTROL) WILL BE DEVELOPED. THIS SYSTEM WILL BE MICROCOMPUTER BASED AND "USER FRIENDLY" FOR USE BY NONSPECIALISTS IN A MANUFACTURING SETTING. IT WILL ALSO BE A USEFUL LABORATORY TOOL WHICH CAN BE EMPLOYED TO RELATE EFFECTIVE PROPERTIES OF PARTS TO INTRINSIC DYNAMIC PROPERTIES AND GEOMETRIES. THE MAJOR OBJECTIVES OF THE PHASE I EFFORT ARE TO DEVELOP HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE TECHNIQUES FOR SAMPLE PREPARATION, MEASUREMENT PARAMETER SELECTION, AND DATA MANAGEMENT--INCLUDING REAL TIME QUALITY ASSURANCE. THESE FUNCTIONS WILL NOT REQUIRE DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF THE MEASUREMENT PROCESS TO IMPLEMENT MAKING THE SYSTEM AVAIL-ABLE TO MINIMALLY TRAINED PERSONNEL. ALSO, THE SYSTEM ACCURACY WILL BE QUANTIFIED. ACHIEVEMENT OF THESE GOALS WILL BE DEMONSTRATED BY THE ASSEMBLY AND TESTING OF A DEMONSTRATION SYSTEM. IN ADDITION, THE DESIGN WILL ALLOW FOR MODIFICATIONS MAKING POSSIBLE MEASUREMENTS OF DYNAMIC PROPERTIES UNDER STATIC STRAIN. INCORPORATION OF THIS UNIQUE FEATURE WILL BE A PRIMARY GOAL IN PHASE II, IN WHICH A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WILL BE DELIVERED.