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14. Mount the sample
a. Using the stepper control buttons on the right side of the instrument, raise the
stage to increase the gap to a sufficient distance that the sample can be easily
loaded.
b. Place the sample on the lower parallel plate. Ensure that the sample is
centered on the tool
c. Using the stepper control buttons on the right side of the instrument, lower the
upper plate until the upper plate contacts the sample
i. If the sample is a regular shaped, non-flowing material, continue
lowering the upper plate until only a small force is generated
ii. If the sample is a gel or flowing material, lower the upper plate until
the sample is distributed evenly across the lower plate into a regular
cylindrical geometry. Trim away any excess sample that has squeezed
outside of the plates
d. Allow the sample to relax before beginning testing by monitoring the force
and waiting for it to decay close to zero.
15. Click Exit in the Gap/Instrument Control Panel
Test Set-Up and Measurement (See Chapter 3 in the RSA3 User Manual)
16. Click the green START button to enter the Edit/Start Instrument Test panel.
17. Click on Save As to select your directory.
a. You should save your data in your own folder located in the “User Data”
folder on the desktop
b. Enter a filename (e.g., sample name) and click Save
18. Enter Operator and Test Notes if desired
19. Under Sample Geometry:
a. Select the Predefined Geometries button (Note: you can also save geometry
settings and recall them by selecting the Stored Geometries button)
b. In the Geometry pull down menu select Cylindrical Tension/Compression
Geometry
c. Click on Edit Geometry and enter the sample dimensions.
i. Check “Read Test Fixture Gap” to have the system automatically
measure the sample length at the start of the test.
ii. Enter the diameter of the sample plate that us being used (8mm,
15mm, or 25mm)
d. Click on Options and enter the tool mass that corresponds to the size of the
plate that you are using:
8mm plate:
80.3gm
15mm plate:
81.8gm
25mm plate:
85.6gm
e. Click OK twice to exit the Geometry menu windows
20. Under Test Set-Up:
MSA1 Operating Procedure for Tension/Compression Testing Using the Parallel Plate Tool
Page 2 of 4
Revision 0
10/13/2010
M. Walters